Berlin and surrounds , late July

Oh happy days boys and girls, appears I will be able to continue blogging.
Berlin an amazing city, so very much to see, so much history and much of it so recent. West and East Berlin merging but the differences can still be seen. As mentioned in last blog we did a fabulous walking tour, Brewers Walking tour , we do recommend it, full of fascinating facts and going a little bit off the beaten track. I won't even try to give you a pottered version , you must do it for yourselves
Standing in the unmarked park that is built over what was Hitler's bunker



The Jewish memorial, acres of different sized concrete blocks, interestingly these have been treated with an anti graffiti coating,made by the same company that once made the gases for the extermination camps.

Lots of different ways to get around

After a few days in Berlin we headed out to the lakes and spent a few days on anchor, relaxing time reading ,swimming, playing cards having a laugh. Not as much Tour watching once we got to the lake area, TV reception very poor, how frustrating. All too soon it was time to say farewells to Lyn and David after a great week.

A voice from the wilderness!

I'm thinking of renaming my nexus tablet, from now he shall be known as Lazarus.
An involuntary swim in the bottom of my waterproof pannier almost saw his demise but on the advise from David & Lyn Mayo, place said wet electronic gadget in plastic bag with some rice, wait a day or two and voila ! OK did need a few days in and out of rice bag but I think we are all good now!!
It has been ages since I last did an update as to our adventures, internet connection has been an issue, fingers crossed this will be able to be uploaded.
We had a fantastic week with the Mayos visit. They joined us in Berlin, we had a few days there exploring ,the added challenge in Berlin is that you can only stay 24hours at a mooring before moving on, most boats moving early in the morning to avoid the large tourist boats that race around the waterways from about 9am to late at night.
We all fronted up for a fantastic walking tour of Berlin, 7 hours latter, much better informed ,and exhausted we sank down in the shade of some lovely trees






Didn't take long to get received




Not putting many photos on this blog, will wait to see what sort of internet reception we get out here

Getting the anchor ready

Approaching Berlin, and already wonderful anchoring opportunities presenting themselves. There is only one problem , we have never used the anchor! so we had better find out how it works.
Karen helping her uncle sort thongs out













Stopped for morning smoko in a little bay and dropped anchor! how exciting.

Got very game a couple of days latter and have actually dropped anchor just out of Potsdam in a sheltered bay and have been here for 2 nights so far.

Before arriving here we had a day/night in Potsdam, an amazing city that will be we'll worth making many other explorations in. The San Souci gardens with all the different palaces extraordinary , this will take days to explore to do it justice.








And lastly, a photo I meant to add earlier , the artistic shot for the day, moon rising over the bay where we are at anchor

Arrived Brandenburg Plaue

Arrived to our proposed winter port Sunday. We were keen to check it out before committing ourselves. Thankfully it looks and feels great so this is where Linquenda will be for at least the nest winter.
Brandenburg Plaue is about 10km from Brandenburg, a smallish village with a few amenities. Certainly has a old east block feel about it but one can see evidence of the place being spruced up.
Knud and Helga share a wine and a joke

cruising in the sunhine

Karen ( our nice ) arrives Monday , fantastic to have her with us for the next few days. Here she sits with Helga, her Mormor ,on Linqunda

Knud with the new gas cylinders What a saga! of course all the fittings are different over here.

Karen and Helga , exploring Brandenburg Plaue

Pretty detailing on some of the houses

Did a double take the first time we saw the local version of a houseboat. Linquenda is attracting a lot of attention.

Hannover to the old East German border

Knud's mum Helga arrived from Denmark with sunshine and heat! Temps doubled overnight!
Wonderful to have Helga on board again, she has at least one holiday on Linquenda each year, always a !lovely relaxing time.
We left Hannover Thursday afternoon, 10km east of Hannover is another historic lock, this one finished in 1933 and was the largest in Europe when finished 214 my long 11.6 my wide and 14.7 my deep
approaching Schleuse Anderten

in the lock

Helga relaxing in farmor's stol


reached the top

Mother and son

Friday , we continue eastwards, stopping briefly in Wolfsburg, Knud plans to return here for an extended visit as this is the headquarters of Volkswagen.



As the day progressed we got closer to the old west ,east German border

there is a corridor along the old border called Grunes Band , green belt, basically a nature reserve.
Last night we moored at the place where all boats were stopped and checked / searched before they could cross to the west.

Postcard from Hannover

What a beautiful city! Really took us by surprise. Arrived Tuesday 1st July in the afternoon moored on the outskirts of town. Public transport a dream, no problem getting about.
Wednesday we headed into the centre, my main aim was to go to the Sprengel Museum of modern art , said to be the best in Germany. Built in the late 70's it hasn't aged , a timeless piece of architecture. The collection is based heavily on early 20th. century German artists. Some interesting pieces.

Max Ernst





Hannover was an important road junction, rail head and production centre so a strategic target for bombing in WW 2 . More than 90% of the city centre destroyed in 88 bombing raids. The remains of this church kept in ruins as a monument to those lost.

The Rathus, ( town hall) built just over 100 years ago miraculously escaped bombing. Situated on a lake it really is rather beautiful





Those Xmas gift idea dilemmas are over! how about a portable BBQ!