More stuff from Paris…..
A few notes on Berlin – a city which Ian and Andrew visited 18 months ago and really enjoyed. So with a few days to spare, I flew in to meet Diana, a good friend visiting from Melbourne.
It’s amazing how visiting a city can really bring one’s knowledge into sharp relief – all those history lessons, those anecdotes over the years, and of course the famous time when the wall came down – so hard to imagine when one lives so far away in Aust. In fact it was 1989 when the people finally stood up to the communist regime and in 1991 the wall started coming down. What a momentous occasion that must have been for the people of Berlin, especially those living on the East German side.
And it’s only when one studies all the photographs of that period, that you realise the huge difference there was between the two sides of the wall. And what incredible rebuilding has taken place since then, and in fact it is hard to imagine what it was like then.
We firstly took the double decker on-off bus – such a great way to get a feel for a city, stopped at the famous Brandenburg Gate, discovered a terrific little Kennedy Museum, then walked to the amazing and very moving Jewish Holocaust museum and memorial park, with its Field of 2 711 concrete stelae representing all those killed during the war. And underneath is an Information Centre providing information and stories on many of the victims. A place of silence and contemplation of the atrocities of man on man.
The Reichstag (Parliament) looking over the beautiful gardens, the Opera House, the River Spree and of course Checkpoint Charlie – with its funny Wall museum with so many stories of those who tried to escape from East Berlin – many successful, and many who died while trying, and the many ways they tried – hollowed out seats in cars, balloons, - incredible what desperation can do for inventiveness.
We spent one morning walking through the Jewish Museum – part of it an old building,and part a new and very lovely modern construction – with the many stories of the Jewish people who suffered so much from the Nazi Germans.
And we managed to see an Opera organised by Diana, followed by finding a bar for a couple of wines afterwards.
All in all a lovely few days.
Unfortunately Ian and I had to leave for Melbourne that weekend, with the passing of a very dear friend Kim Smith. Ian and Kim had met at school and for the last 30 years or so, had played tennis every week with a special group of friends. So it was with much sadness that we spent a week at home, joining all his friends and family for a special service of a celebration of his life at St Andrews in Brighton. There were so many of Sue and Kim’s friends there for this lovely service albeit tinged with much sadness for a person who has been such a part of our lives for so long.
But we were looking forward to seeing David again only to find that he had gone to Bangkok for a few days with Johanna. Luckily he arrived back early Saturday morning, giving us time for coffee and lunch, before we took off again for Paris.
And have just read a couple of very interesting and entertaining books.
‘The Secret life of France’ by Lucy Wadham is “a candid and funny account of her long and tumultuous love affair with France, her adopted land”, and the many differences in culture and attitude between the French and the British.
And ‘Julie and Julia’ by Julie Powell, a book describing Julie’s year of cooking every recipe in Julia Child’s Recipe Book – it’s very entertaining and I am very keen to see the film – with Meryl Streep no less.
And Linda Speddy has just sent me Alan Bennett’s book ‘The Uncommon Reader’ a small and delightful book about Queen Elizabeth and her discovery of books (fiction of course)
Andrew and Beth are very much still in Guatemala and become involved in a project at their school to put a roof and windows on the school for the community children. Andrew assures us that he will be out there soon with hammer and nails – which will be very interesting as I didn’t think he knew much about hammers and nails!!! But more of this project later – with before and after pictures, fund raising, and teaching the children English and manners!!
Had a very enjoyable dinner last week with an expat group including Alec Lubrano, author of the book ‘Hungry for Paris – the ultimate guide to the city’s 102 best restaurants. ‘ The restaurant was the Cafe Moderne and the meal was degustation – about 5 or 6 courses, each with its own wine, white for the first 4 then red to finish off, and of course a dessert wine. Luckily we were all going home on the metro, although Anna was on her bike, wobbling through Paris at midnight!!!
Alec has a great love for Africa so we happily talked about the different areas and books we had read on this fascinating country.
Well, I am off tomorrow night to meet a French teacher – another attempt to improve my incredibly bad French - hopefully I will have some lessons when we come back next year, and at least get a bit more pronunciation correct. That is my challenge.
Must fly – off for afternoon tea and then a weekend of packing up, always a challenge.
Au revoir - a bientot
Barbara
