Fiber Feats

September in Berlin

Last Day

Strolling the streets. Some beautiful old buildings.

Some streets are marked with cobblestones where the wall once stood.

And this large piece of the wall stood next to my table at the sidewalk cafe.


Street festival still going on at Alexanderplatz. Had one of these wonderful Pfannkuchen. (Filled donut). Didn't mean to turn this into a food blog :-)

Went with Leslye to a French restaurant that she likes and met some of her co-workers there. Good food, good wine, lots of French that I didn't understand, but had fun!

The train station at Görlitz, the easternmost town in Germany

The Frauenkirche in Görlitz, facing the altar

Frauenkirche

Schönhof

Fountain of Neptune

One of the many twisting side streets in Görlitz

Old town hall

Ornamentation on a housing corner

The St. Peter and Paul Cathedral dates from the early 1200's. This was a chest that was used to hold money donated to purchase indulgences in the Middle Ages.

Some of the old gravestones have been brought into the cathedral. This one commemorates a woman who died at "age 32 minus 6 weeks."

And this one shows an angel taking away the two children of a local family.

Archway into the greenway inside the old town wall.

At the top of the stairway running up the Dicker Turm (fat tower). The door at the top was closed. I didn't expect anything else, but was surprised at the number of people below who asked me about it.

Among the beautifully restored old buildings are also shabby, tumble-down buildings that could be used for a set in a WWII movie.

The beautiful Sonnenorgel (sun organ) in the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral.

I photgraph Stolpersteine when I see them, and this was along a street in Görlitz. (These are commemorative stones that are set into the streets in front of homes or buildings from which individual Jews or families were taken for deportation.) These commemorate Sigmund and Betty Fischer who died at Auschwitz and Theresienstadt respectively.

This monument says it all: The dead admonish the living.

Either this is street art, or someone forgot the combination for their bicycle lock!

This wall of antique sewing machines caught my eye as I came out of the subway... and this was just a small part of the HUNDREDS on display!

Sitting on a park bench, knitting, waiting to meet a friend,

when the Fire Dept. trucks pulled up in front of me.

THIS.CLOSE.

They piled out of the trucks, and though they didn't ask me to move, I felt a little weird as they gathered around.

"Typical" German breakfast. Yum!

This caught my eye as I was walking out of the subway. It's just the basement level of this clothing store. The wall of old sewing machines continues into the two upper floors. Hundreds of them!

The Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral) is an amazing sight. Facing here is the front altar.

Hundreds of steps later, I stood outside on the walkway around the Dom's cupola.

There are a number of elaborate coffins in the church, where the Hohenzollern princes and princesses were first laid to rest.

But these are now just maintained in display. The bodies are interred in the Hohenzollern Gruft below the Cathedral.

The number of little coffins certainly indicates that wealth did not necessarily protect the nobility from loss.

A view of the Lust Garten (Pleasure Gardens) from above on the external walkway. It was a cool windy day, so the lawns below were markedly empty of picnickers!

I dropped by Cafe Seidenfaden (Silk thread) where a friend of a friend had an exhibition.
The second photo here shows a close-up of the front door. :-) I think men are allowed in on Thursdays, as guests of their female friends.

And then in a TOTAL change of mood...the ladies bathroom in a sports bar. From inside the toilet: there is a large mirror on the inside of the door. A TV monitor BEHIND ONE'S HEAD reflects into that mirror so that one doesn't miss out on the game even while answering nature's call. P.S. No calls of nature were answered during this photo!!!

This very cute little yarn shop had various sample yarns worked up in doll clothes. You could see how the yarn would look, and also see how easy it would be to dream up some outfits for a certain American Girl doll :-)

Touring the former Stasi prison of Hohenschönhause. Control room, where it could be seen if prisoners slept or sat when they weren't allowed to.

Typical cell of wooden bed and a pot.

Corridor of cells. No natural light; completely underground and damp.

And then on the bright side, two young "Mother Teresas" got on the subway :-)

This past weekend was "Open Door Day" at many city buildings and museums, many offering free entrance. At the Nikolaikirche, there were free guided tours of the former church as well as the small grave chapels within. The Nikolaikirche is the oldest church in Berlin, built in the early 1200's. The baptismal font has stood there since that time.

Wealthy families could buy spaces in the small side chapels or the entire chapel as did this family Kötteritz. They commissioned this painting of themselves, which because of its detail, became very important in helping restore the church after its destruction in World War II.

Nearby was the Knoblauch House, which I toured. I thought this picture of the children was cute, especially because of their little pet on a chain.

A small bedroom in the house....note how the chair is cut out in the seat, making an early private toilette :-)

This former Franciscan monastery was bombed out in World War II and never restored. It's sort of an open-air museum now. But along one wall are still the grave markers for some of the monks. Many are pock-marked with bullet holes.

This seems to be some kind of swift...either for winding skeins into balls or reverse. Or both, depending on what one has and wants. Pretty cool. (Knoblauch Haus)

The Viking Exhibition touring Europe is currently in Berlin. Sadly, I lost my pictures of the ship (reminder to self: DON'T let the cam get toooo full of pictures!) So first are two online pictures of the reconstruction of the ship. It is the largest Viking ship EVER found, dug from an area next to one of the oldest roads in England.

One cool display held chess figures carved from walrus ivory. The Shield-Biters Chessmen. WHY are they biting their shields?

This mini-Viking came running in, fully costumed. He hardly held still long enough for his picture!

Harald Bluetooth had a large stone carved and set to remember his parents. But this side of it reminds its viewers that he was responsible for the Christianization of Denmark.

I found this display fascinating. It's a simple stick on which the readable portion says, "Sakse carved the runes here." It was found tucked BENEATH the boards of the deck of the ship. Did he never come back to retrieve it? Or did he leave it there, like a message in a bottle, for someone in the future to find?

Gruesome but fascinating, the mass grave of a Viking horde that lost their conflict with the locals. The remains tell many tales.

An afternoon trip to Gärten der Welt (Gardens of the World) Missed the guided tour due to careless reading of the schedule, so I enjoyed it on my own.

Even this late in the year, the flowers were beautiful. After yesterday's shower, the smell of roses was heavy in the air.