Exploring Berlin

In Berlin we not only checked out the main tourist sights we also wandered around in a huge  sporting goods store next to the town hall or a discount store next to Alexander Platz with a nice shoe selection

And of the the food section at the Ka De We (Kaufhaus des Westen)  Department store wwith it famous food selection on the top floor as a must. The Brandenburg gate made out of marzipan is one of the eye catchers

The cake section is impressive as well

Some of the seafood s pretty expensive - and so are some of the wine bottles in the wine section

We also checked out the hip neighborhood of Prenzlauer Berg

Not to far is a park where the Berlin wall used to be

Trip to Berlin

After only a 90 minute train ride from Hannover in an ICE high speed train we arrived at the new main staton in Berlin. After getting a day ticket for the public transport and checking in at the hotel we hopped on a bus from Bahnhof Zoo - the center in the western part of town - to Alexanderplatz - the historic center.
Not far from the old city palace that is in the process of being reconstructed we hopped on a cruise along the river Spree

It took us past the Friedrichstrasse train station where Ji had passed from the East to the West on her train trip from Shanghai to Hamburg many years ago. when this was the main transfer point from East Berlin to West Berlin for people that were allowed to travel to the west.

It also passed the Reichstag parliament building

Tiergarten and the Victory Column in the distance

Back past the museum island

When had finished the cruise the sun started to come out

 Past the city palace

Of course we had to stop at the Brandenburg gate

Mis knows how to take a selfie

Hannover

We had planed to go to Hamburg for a birthday party but had to change plans. So we went to Berlin instead and stopped in Hannover for an afternoon and one night on the way.
The downtown area was a lot of shopping streets that looked liked in any other German city

 But we also discovered a very small old town

The church had a monument for Luther in front

Another famous sight is the old town hall

A large lake - Maschsensee - is south of the city center. This weekend there was a big festival

A modern building for a bank

 The opera 

Dagmar and Clara

Dagmar and her daughter Clara stopped in Heidelberg for one day on their trip from Munich to the Sauerland
Of course we took them to the old town and the castle

 It would have nice if the could have stayed a bit longer

Bike Tour to Walldorf

on a Sunny Sunday we decided to ride our bikes to Walldorf , On the way we stopped at a horse show in the south of Heidelberg

In Walldorf the little airport for small plabes was busy

Climbing Class

For the first week of summer vacation Mia has signed up for a one week class at an climbing hall run by the German Alpine Club DAV. Climbing is one of her favorite activities so that is a great start into her summer break

There is a indoor climbing section as well