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July 30, 2005
Trip to Germany: Part 1
I haven't written in a while. I have been either laid up with a cold or busy for the past few weeks. The cold was and is not fun. I still have a lingering version of it. However, aside from that life has been fun. Recently, friends of mine, Colm and Heidi, got married, in the village of Oberbärenburg, which is in south-eastern Germany, about 4 km from the border with the Czech Republic. Colm's family and a few of his friends made the trip over. Attending the wedding, and the associated planning, has been my major activity for the past few weeks.
The plan was to fly to Berlin. We would all meet there, do some sightseeing for a day or two, and then get a train to Dresden. I stretched out my trip to a full week in Germany. Because of this I arrived before everyone else and had a full day on my own to explore Berlin. I made good use of the time. My explorations centered around the Tiergarten, Berlin's large, open, and beautifully wooded park, located right in the center of the city. I climbed the Siegessäule, the Victory Column, with its gilded angel. This monument is located in the center of the Tiergarten. After taking some photographs, I walked down Staße des 17. Juni towards Brandenburg Tor. This street runs down the middle of the Tiergarten. The name intrigued me, as this was obviously some important date in German history. I found out later that this was the date of the general strike in East Germany in 1953, a revolt against the communist regime of the day, that was ended by Soviet military force. The strike was a non-violent expression of spirit and courage that is worth commemorating.
Two thirds of the way down Staße des 17. Juni I passed the war memorial. I didn't spend long there and hurried on towards Brandenburger Tor. I passed through it into Pariser Platz to get a view of the front of this famous gateway. It was impressive. With the wide open Pariser Platz in front of it, it is a perfect backdrop to some outdoor event.
After that I took the short walk down to the Reichstag. This historic building was the seat of the German parliament before it was burned down in 1933. It has been restored, with a magnificent glass dome, and serves as the parliament building again. It is a beautiful old building, with a modern twist, and it is surrounded by beautiful new buildings. I saw many examples of fine architecture during my stay in Berlin, especially the Norwegian and Indian embassies. However the buildings around the Reichstag are my favourites. I bet they are energy efficient too. Architects of Ireland, take note.
The last bit of sightseeing I did that day was to head to Potsdammer Platz to see a remaining piece of the Berlin Wall. The fragments of the wall looked small and out of place surrounded by tall buildings in the thoroughly rejuvenated square. Standing beside the chunks of concrete it was hard to imagine what a barrier they were: there is so little left it provides no barrier at all.
Posted by JohnC at 07:10 PM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2005
Glenmalur
I went on my first hike, yesterday, since spraining my ankle. Along with the usual crew, I walked the upper end of Glenmalur valley. We started at the car park near the hostel and walked to the spot height at the top of the valley, to look for the geocache there (Timon's Folly). It was a very easy walk due to the track Coillte put up there, but it was pleasant. I forgot two important pieces of equipment though. The first was insect repellent. Glenmalur has a large population of midges and they were very irritating, especially when we stopped for breaks. The second piece of equipment that I forgot was my camera. The views down the length of the valley are really nice, no matter what the weather is like. We had light rain, mist, and sunshine and the valley looked wonderful throughout. In addition we also spotted some deer. They were about 100m away but they hung around for a while, so if I had had my camera I would have got some good photographs.
Posted by JohnC at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)