Berlin Trip, 2008 - Day 15

DAY 15 - THE RETURN HOME

A wonderful vacation has come to an end.  It was a bittersweet morning to awaken, have breakfast with Gerhard and then load the car for the trip to the Berlin Tegel Airport.

I bid farewell to Harald who went off to work and Uschi and Gerhard drove me to the airport with Kira going with us.  Kira is one well behaved dog; she laid in the car and was quiet as a mouse all the while we were driving.  The morning was sunny and bright and it would be a good day for flying.

We arrived at the airport and Uschi dropped us off at the terminal and went to park the car.  Gerhard and I went into the terminal, found my gate and waited a short time in line before I was able to show my passport and get my tickets.  All this time we were waiting for Uschi to arrive; obviously it was hard to find a parking space.

This was a sad time for me.  I had to bid goodbye to Uschi and Gerhard and I was feeling sad about that.  But it was a wonderful vacation and I am truly appreciative of the fantastic time that they all showed me.  We said goodbye and I went through into the gate area to wait for my flight for Düsseldorf.  The wait was short and the flight to Düsseldorf was short as well.

Once in Düsseldorf, I proceeded to the gate for the flight to Chicago, waited a short while, boarded the plane and began the long flight home.  This trip I wasn't so lucky to have the seats to myself but I read and slept and reminisced about the wonderful vacation that I had had.

I arrived in Chicago, caught my shuttle to Michigan City, Indiana where my neighbor and my mother picked me up and then off to St. Joseph we went.  It had been one long, more than 24 hour day, since arising at the apartment in Berlin and I ended up sleeping off and on for the next 2 days.

I can't say enough how fantastic this vacation was.  It was a long held dream of mine to be able to go to Berlin and visit Gerhard and his family.  It was everything I had hoped for and more.  I will never forget this experience.

Thank you Gerhard, Uschi, Harald, Kai, Steffi, Oli, Mandy, Jürgen, Christa (and Kira) for making this vacation the fantastic time that it was!

PS...And how did I get to this point where I had discovered and connected with my Kolberg German cousins, developed a relationship with them and was able to visit them in Berlin?  The story of how I actually made these connections goes back to the mid-1970's so stay tuned for the saga!

Copyright 2008, Cheryl J. Schulte

Berlin Trip, 2008 - Day 14

DAY 14 - THE GRAND FINALE

All good things must come to an end and today would be my last day in Berlin.  Our day would be laid back and relaxing and would be a grand finale to my entire vacation.  

Breakfast was at 9 at Gerhard's apartment and then we decided to take one last walk around Marzahn, through the parks and the market area and back to the apartments.  For a fall day it was lovely-not too hot and not too cold.

We returned to Gerhard's apartment and had more genealogy talk and viewing of more photos.  Gerhard has a never ending supply of photos, videos and DVD's and they are all professional and interesting.

Dinner at 2 was at Uschi and Harald's where Uschi had made a special dish for me - none other than wiener schnitzel!  I was trying to remember and I believe it was my 5th or 6th meal of wiener schnitzel since being in Berlin and this time was the best, of course, as it was homemade.  We had a leisurely dinner with talking followed by some relaxing time.

In the late afternoon, Uschi, Gerhard and myself, as well as Kira, drove to Oliver and Mandy's apartment where we had been invited to visit.  They had a very nice apartment on the 5th floor of the building.  Mandy served us coffee, tea and dessert.  She used the beautiful tea set that her grandmother had given them as a wedding gift.

We then went into their living room and viewed a video tape that Gerhard had made in 2000 after his return to Germany from their visit to us in Michigan.  Gerhard told me that he did not have an English version but he would give me a German copy that I could take home.

We later returned to our apartments and I began to pack and get some sleep before my early morning flight the next morning.

Copyright 2008, Cheryl J. Schulte

Berlin Trip, 2008 - Day 13

DAY 13 - ZOO BERLIN

It was a good thing we "relaxed" yesterday as today would be a very busy walking day.  The day started at 9 with breakfast in Gerhard's apartment.  We then carried a box to the post office in Marzahn for me to mail back to my home in Michigan.  With all the items that Gerhard and Uschi shared with me it was more than I could pack in my suitcases so I packed what turned out to be a very heavy box and we mailed it back to the US.  

Leaving the post office we went on to the train station and off to Berlin city proper.  We stopped at Alexanderplatz and took a bus tour of the city for 1 hour and then it was on to the Zoo Berlin.

When Gerhard had asked me what sites I wanted to see in Berlin I had immediately mentioned the Zoo Berlin.  Why, I don't know because I am not a big fan of a zoo.  I have visited the Detroit Zoo on multiple occasions when I was a child and it never really stood out in my mind.  But for some reason, I was fascinated with the web sites I had read on the Zoo Berlin and I wanted to see it.  Believe me, I was not disappointed and if I were to ever return to Berlin I would want to do a re-visit to their Zoo:

We did stop in a restaurant within the zoo and had some lunch while eating outside on a picnic table.  The bees were plentiful and Gerhard even was aggravated with them.  What am I eating?  Why, wiener schnitzel, of course:

The highlight of the Zoo Berlin was the chance to visit Knut.  Knut is a polar bear, born in captivity at the Zoo Berlin, rejected by his mother at birth and raised by a zookeeper.  The story of Knut is moving and poignant in that the zookeeper that raised him had died just prior to my visit.  Knut appeared to be mourning the only caregiver he knew and was not the roly poly little bear born 2 years previously.  While all the other bears we visited were laid back and quiet, Knut paced back and forth in his enclosure continually making mournful sounds:

Leaving the zoo we stopped at an ice cream concession stand where they had an ice cream bar called a KitKat.  I do love the KitKat candy bars in the US and this ice cream bar was very similar.

From the zoo we continued back to Alexanderplatz and visited the Mariner Church as well as the Berlin Aquarium where we saw the most amazing displays of fish:

 

By the time we left the Aquarium, it was dark outside and beginning to rain.  I did have an umbrella with me (courtesy of Gerhard) despite the fact that I had already broken one of his other umbrellas on an earlier rainy day.  Good thing he had a supply of umbrellas for guests!

We took two trains back home and spent the rest of the evening watching a television program on the falling of the Berlin wall in 1989.

Back to my apartment at 9:30 and bed.

Copyright 2008, Cheryl J. Schulte

Berlin Trip, 2008 - Day 12

DAY 12 - RELAXING IN MARZAHN

Day 12 already of my vacation; time is moving quickly and it will soon be time to return to the US and a new job.  

Today we had breakfast at Gerhard's apartment and Jürgen and Christa began to pack for their return to Meppen.  Around noon Gerhard and I walked Jürgen and Christa to the train station and they departed for their return home.  It had been a wonderful few days with them and we exchanged e-mail addresses and promised to stay in touch.

Gerhard and I then returned to his apartment to download photos and put them on my thumb drive; he and Jürgen had previously shared the photos each of them had taken so now I had three groups of photos of Berlin taken from different photographers.  We then viewed albums of Gerhard's family photos from years past.  It is just amazing the amount of genealogical memorabilia that Gerhard has collected; he is a very talented and creative man and his collection is well presented and preserved.

Around 1 pm Gerhard suggested that we walk a different direction in Marzahn as he wanted to show me a large store that he enjoys shopping in and in which there is an excellent restaurant.  We walked a little distance from our apartments and entered the store Domaene.  At first I wanted to characterize this store as typical of a Lowe's in the US but it was far more than that.  Furniture, household goods, lamps, cabinets, etc were all sold in this store and on an upper level was a very nice restaurant where I had - surprise - wiener schnitzel.  Gerhard just shook his head at how often I was interested in having wiener schnitzel but it was particularly good at this restaurant.

We toured through the store and some interesting things were for sale such as this item which actually I had noticed in Gerhard's apartment.  He told me that he had seen this in Domaene, told Uschi that he liked it and she bought it for him for his birthday.  Quite an interesting birthday gift, huh?

After leaving Domaene we took the train back to the Eastgate Mall as I was hoping to find a wheeled carry-on bag to buy in order to more comfortably transport my laptop home.  We did indeed find a store that had such a carry-on and then in another store I was able to buy some wonderful egg cups.  It was amazing to me the number of people in this mall who shop with their dogs and I saw a little poodle that made me miss my little Zoya back home.  These dogs walked along obediently and seemed oblivious to the people and activities around them.  

We did again decide to sit in the  mall and have some ice cream and I noticed a wonderful candy shop across the corridor where, of course, a visit was mandatory!

After this day of walking, shopping, walking some more we returned to Gerhard's apartment for supper followed by bed at 9.

Only a few more days remaining on this vacation!

Copyright 2008, Cheryl J. Schulte

Berlin Trip, 2008 - Day 11

DAY 11 - COLBERG/KOLBERG FAMILY REUNION

Since moving back to my home town of St. Joseph in 1997, my mother and I have organized five reunions of our Kolberg family (in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003).  These reunions were previously held from 1939-1957 and then had stopped.  At our reunion in 2000 Gerhard and his grandsons, Kai and Oliver, traveled to the US to attend.  

Now, in Berlin, Gerhard was planning a Colberg/Kolberg family reunion to correspond with my visit and today would be the day.

Breakfast this morning was at Uschi and Harald's apartment followed by make-overs for myself and Christa by Uschi.  I asked Uschi if she would like to come to St. Joseph every morning and do my make-up for me but unfortunately she felt it was a little too far to commute!

Around noon, Kai and Steffi arrived at the apartment followed by Oli and Mandy and we left in 3 cars for a local Chinese restaurant.  Gerhard knew that Chinese food was a favorite of mine (after wiener schnitzel, of course) and he had found a very nice Chinese restaurant where we could have a private room.  The meal was great and the conversations were equally so and we sat for quite some time visiting.

Christa and Jürgen Colberg

Kai and Steffi

Mandy and Oli

Following our lunch, Gerhard suggested that we go to an attraction in Marzahn called "Garten Der Welt" (Gardens of the World).  It was here that Oli and Mandy had been married this past August and it promised to be a beautiful site to visit.

This huge location in Marzahn featured gardens from such places as China, Japan, Korea, etc along with other sites.  One could spend hours walking through these gardens and we did stay all of the afternoon.  The day was cool but sunny and made for good photos.  Kai and Steffi could not join us as they are expecting a baby and Steffi needed to go home and rest.  I would not be seeing them again during this trip so we had a few minutes to say good-bye.

Here are some photos of the Gardens of the World:

Following our trip through the gardens, we returned to Uschi and Harald's apartment for coffee, tea and cakes and discussions of our genealogy research.  Jürgen is also very interested and involved in our mutual Colberg/Kolberg history and we had a lively discussion of our research to date.

Supper followed at 9:30 and back to my apartment and bed around midnight.

Copyright 2008, Cheryl J. Schulte

Berlin Trip, 2008 - Day 10

DAY 10 - FUN DAY IN BERLIN

Time has been flying on this vacation.  I have done many things, saw many sites and had restful and peaceful walks.  Today would be a combination day of visiting, talking and touring.  

The day started off with breakfast at Uschi and Harald's apartment and then Uschi, Gerhard, Jürgen, Christa and I were off in the car to the main area of Berlin.  First we stopped at Alexander Platz and visited the Alexis Mall.  Gerhard and I had already been here before and it is a magnificent mall with many stores to visit.  In the mall was an ice cream parlor where we stopped for ice cream cones:

After this walk we got back in the car and headed for downtown Berlin.  I had wanted to visit the large department store in Berlin "KaDeWe" and had mentioned that to Gerhard before I came to Berlin.  Today would be the day.  I had been to KaDeWe in 1993 when I visited my brother and his family but at that time we only cruised through the store, went to the top level and had some lunch at the multitude of concession areas available.  Today, though, we three women would do a woman's visit of the store!

First, though, we had a bit of "dinner" at a Curry Wurst concession stand outside of KaDeWe.  I had not heard of curry wurst but evidently it is a delicacy in Germany.  Gerhard even told me that my nephew, Jay, when visiting Gerhard last year, had requested a visit to a curry wurst stand. 

Following our meal off to KaDeWe we went.  The two men went their own way to visit the computer area of the store.  Then they would return home to Marzahn by bus.  They certainly didn't want to tag along with three women in a major department store.

In the US we have many large department stores.  I grew up in the Detroit area with the JL Hudson Department store and my mother worked there for 25 years.  It is a nice department store with quality labels.  Over the years Hudson's was sold to Marshall Fields and now has become part of the Macy's family.  In St. Joseph where I live now there are no Macy's stores available.  The closest store is the large Macy's on State Street in Chicago and I have taken the Amtrak train there on occasion to spend a day shopping.

However, there is NO comparison between KaDeWe and Macy's.  KaDeWe is 1,000 times larger and much more exclusive than any store I have visited in the US.  Christa, Uschi and I spent most of the day walking through all the floors and departments in this store buying nothing.  Unusual for women!

We did visit the cosmetics counters and there, front and center, was the Estee Lauder display.  I faithfully use Estee Lauder cosmetics in the ReNutriv line and they are very difficult to find.  I have to send to Chicago when I need to replenish my supply.  The costs of the ReNutriv line have risen over the years and I was curious to see if KaDeWe carried the same lines.  Sure enough, they did, and I posed for a picture holding my particular jar of ReNutriv cream.  A sales associate approached me and I told her that I would like to know the price of this jar.  I nearly choked when I heard the price was almost 2/3 MORE at KaDeWe than in Chicago at Macy's.  Needless to say I did not buy it but I was amused by their display of Estee Lauder.  Felt like home!

We then headed to the home furnishings floor where I was gifted by Uschi and Christa with some specialty dessert forks and a wonderful cake server utensil.  Both of these items I had seen Uschi using in her home.  Being a tea lover and lover of all things "tea" related, I wanted to visit the area where tea pots and tea sets were displayed.  It had been my dream to purchase a really nice German tea set with teapot, sugar, creamer, tea cups, saucers, etc.  There were so many styles and colors to study in the store that it was hard to decide just which set I liked the best.  When all was said and done, though, the prices determined that I would have to forego this dream.  It would have been way too big of a bite in exchange rates, and with the added costs of shipping, it would be impossible to afford.  I was disappointed but I certainly enjoyed looking at all the sets.

At the end of the afternoon we did visit the top floor where the view over Berlin is breathtaking.  There we sat and had some drinks before heading back to Uschi's car and back to Marzahn.

After returning home to the apartments we again spent time viewing family video tapes and had supper of rouladen, potates and red cabbage.  

It had been a long day but a very enjoyable one.  I was ready for bed earlier than usual, undoubtedly due to all the walking.

Copyright 2008, Cheryl J. Schulte

Berlin Trip, 2008 - Day 9

DAY 9 - MEETING NEW RELATIVES IN MARZAHN

Today dawned cold and rainy but the enjoyment of the vacation lingered and the weather really wasn't of much concern.  My apartment was so nice and spacious and the view was outstanding and even with the cold weather I would go out on the balcony and stand and look over Marzahn.  It was a most relaxing time.

Today breakfast was at Uschi and Harald's apartment where we talked about other Colberg cousins who would be arriving from the area of Meppen in northern Germany to spend a few days visiting with us.  This was exciting as I had hoped to meet other cousins and this couple, Jürgen and Christa Colberg, were making a special trip to Berlin in order to meet me as well.  They would be staying with me in the guest apartment which was certainly large enough to accommodate several groups of people.

They were due to arrive around noon and Gerhard left the apartment to walk to the train station to pick them up while I stayed at Uschi's.  At dinner time, around 1:30 pm, Gerhard arrived back with Jürgen and Christa and I was able to meet them.  Again, their English was very good and we had no difficulty in understanding each other.  It is just amazing how the German people of varying ages have better English skills than we would have German skills.

After a dinner of bean soup, breads, yogurt and fruit we decided to walk some around Marzahn despite the cold weather.  Again, there were many beautiful sites to see and we enjoyed the walk and the scenery.  The park, in the vicinity of the apartments, had many very unusual sculptures to view.  I wondered if they were from the same sculptor/artist but Gerhard said they were not.  Following are photos from Marzahn Park:

See the metal tag on the tree with the number?  The trees are numbered so that if they run away the police know where to return them!!!!  That was the story I was told.  Actually it is a government numbering system to keep track of how many trees have been planted.  I like the first story better!

Following this walk we returned to the apartments where we talked and viewed photos and videos of Uschi and Harald's previous vacations in Africa.

Coffee, tea and cake were again served at 5 pm.  I do so enjoy this ritual!! and after more visiting, supper was served with the traditional menu.

Later in the evening, Uschi and Harald's younger son, Oli, arrived with his new bride, Mandy, and I was able to greet Oli again who had visited us in America in 2000.  I was also able to meet his beautiful bride, Mandy, and chat some with them.  It was the day before Oli's birthday and his mother had promised him a trip to a local candle making factory where Uschi, Oli and Mandy were going to make candles.  They left for this excursion and I returned to my apartment at 11 for bed.

It had been a good day of visiting with new relatives and much family history talk.  I couldn't ask for a better day!

Copyright 2008, Cheryl J. Schulte