Berlinfusion

Dartmoor

As mentioned in my previous post, I grew up on the edge of the glorious wilderness that is Dartmoor.

We always make as many visits there as our time in Devon allows. This year, the weather was appalling, but we were graced by a couple of nice days.

Luckily, Dartmoor tends to drain it's rainwater off quite quickly, so the ground wasn't too boggy.

We had a great trip to Hound Tor, a very picturesque tor surrounded in legends and history.

Our hound liked Hound Tor...

Tim and Rhiannon went climbing. My days of clambering over rocks are sadly over following a nasty fall a year ago.

So I stayed below with Kita who had discovered her own interest: lovely, fresh sheep poo...

On another Dartmoor trip, this time in the Okehampton area at the base of Yes Tor, she found even more poo to roll in. This time it was a fresh cow pat which resulted in an emergency bath in the river.

And finally, a rather bad photo of the famous Dartmoor ponies. When I was a kid, my best friend and I used to tame these and take little rides on them. Obviously this is not recommended!

This year's visit to the UK brought back some wonderful memories for me. I'm not entirely sure why this particular trip was so poignant. I think it's because Rhiannon is at roughly the same age I was when I was constantly outside independently exploring this beautiful countryside. She doesn't have that option: we don't live there, obviously! And she doesn't have the fabulous older best friend I had, and still have.

I think I'm feeling old!

 

 

 

Okehampton Castle

I grew up in Okehampton, Devon.

My playground and 'back garden' was Dartmoor, the local woods and Okehampton Castle. This was in the good old days before mobile phones and generally over-protective parenting. I and my friends would be outside from dawn 'til dusk and we spent a lot of time at the castle.

Okehampton Castle

The custodian in those days was a lovely gentleman called Harry Palmer who let us in for free and taught us all about the history and told wonderful ghost stories. Much of our time was spent looking for the ghost of Lady Howard. In all my times there I'd never so much as felt the presence of a ghost, let alone see one.

Finding dog-friendly places in the UK is tricky. And confusing, especially as Britain is supposedly a nation of dog-lovers. We aren't allowed to take her on any beaches during the summer months and most other attractions forbid dogs.

Okehampton Castle is dog-friendly. So on this latest visit to the UK, we revisited my old stomping ground.

Little had changed in the intervening decades; some areas were railed off due to health and safety concerns, ancient brickwork had been made safe but otherwise, all was exactly as I recalled, of course.

Queen of the Castle

Intriguingly, there were two rooms that Kita absolutely refused to enter. Nothing would budge her, and if a Shiba doesn't want to do something, there's very little you can do about it.

But overall she loved the place.

 

Olympic Stadiums

What is the plural of stadium?

I had this dilemma / argument many moons ago when talking about octopuses... as you do. I learned that octopus is a Greek word so doesn't take the 'i' ending, unlike 'cacti'.

However, cactus is a Latin word derived from Greek so... I'll stop now before my brain explodes!

Therefore, I believe the plural of stadium is 'stadiums' because the word is Greek. If it was Latin, then the plural would be 'stadia'. Or stadii?

 

Anyway...

 

I've learned far more about stadiums in the past couple of months than I ever needed to know. I've even been to visit the one here in Berlin. This is not normal for me. So what's been going on?

Rhiannon is in her final few weeks of primary school. By age, she should have another year to go, but she was placed up a year in her new school so is finishing primary school at the begining of July.

The school she attends now runs the International Baccalaureate curriculum and, at the end of the Primary Years Programme, the students create and run an 'exhibition'.

This is a Big Event for the students and is the culmination of nearly two months of very hard work. And the subject was sports events, and Olympics, and all sorts of other subjects within the heading.

I have to admit to being more than a little puzzled about the whole system, but as far as I can tell, the children had a big brainstorming session back in May and discussed all potential topics for study. Then, as individuals, they chose a handful of subjects that interested them. At some point, these subjects were whittled down and disseminated amongst the three classes in her grade.

The upshot of all this was Rhiannon working on Olympic Stadiums and the architecture thereof. She was placed in a group with three other girls and left to get on with it. Suddenly having to do hours and hours of research and work at home was somewhat of a shock.

About a month ago I was volunteered to take the group on a fact finding trip to the Berlin Olympic Stadium. I found out about my volunteer status two days before the trip!

Unfortunately, the day we went was when the efficient German road workmen decided to work on both sides of the main road at the same time. We were stuck in traffic for ages.

This gave me the chance to listen in to the discussions of the group: they were very keen and impressively intent on their respective projects. One was studying the ancient Olympics, and another was working on the politics of the Olympic games. I can't recall the other topic.

Finally, we reached the stadium and yet more time was wasted organising payments and getting hold of audio tour handsets. I felt anxious at my role in this excursion; somehow I had to keep four girls together while allowing them to explore their own interests, which were diverse, to say the least. My anxieties were realised very quickly as one was very intense and had to listen and read every single word she found and wouldn't move until she was done. Another couple wandered off to look at something else, while the fourth needed to take photos of absolutely everything.

After a bit of a false start, we made it through the first, extremely long, stop on the audio tour, only to find - after a very long walk in the freezing cold - that the next stop was closed for maintenance. Cue some quite dramatic angst from the girls who couldn't work out how to continue.

We'd been there an hour already and were fairly short of time thanks to the traffic jame and having to return to school by lunchtime. So I took charge and ushered them back to the start and inside the main stadium. I was very cold and very bored. Actually, everyone wsa cold and the bitter wind whistling through the stands didn't help.

My trained eye quickly spotted a restaurant so suggested a stop for hot chocolate and a chance to look at their copious notes in the warm. They could also listen to the rest of the audio tour and each could pick out information relevant to their different subjects.

This went down well, sort of. The intense one was very disturbed by the change of plan but I had to overrule her. We just didn't have time to explore the entire, massive area.

I took a couple of photos and, after we'd revived with hot drinks, I drove them back to school. Each one politely and genuinely thanked me for taking them, which was lovely and made it worthwhile. It was just a shame it couldn't have been longer and warmer.

The exhibition was held last night.

The past two months has been a tough and rather stressful time for many reasons - think of GCSE studying but with a ten year old... But she did it and I'm very proud of her. Tension has been building for a week now but it all came together yesterday.

During the day they had their stands out and presented their findings to the whole school and parents visited in the evening. All the students had put an amazing amount of time and effort into their projects.

Although I didn't realise at the time, independent assessors were circulating and interviewing the students too. As yet, I don't know the outcome of the assessments so we've all got our fingers very tightly crossed for the results.

And I can safely say that we are ALL very glad it's all over!

 

A Berlin Bear

 

Some Corner of a Foreign Field

Early this clear, frosty morning we were standing in the calm and beautiful Berlin Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery.

For me and Rhiannon, this was our first Remembrance Day service. What a moving place to experience this emotionally charged ceremony.

We wore our poppies with pride. Initially we'd felt a little awkward about wearing this symbolic flower but in the company of others from the Commonwealth today they weren't out of place.

The ceremony started with the Black Kilts, a Berlin-based pipes and drums band marching up the through the grave lines. Standard bearers carried themselves immaculately.

And then a lone bugler sounded those poignant notes of The Last Post.

Now for some reason, I cannot bear The Last Post. It never fails to bring me to tears. It's so mournful and the meaning behind it so heartbreakingly sad I cannot help myself. I struggled to hold back the tears. So many people have more reason to cry than me. The last members of my family lost to war were my great-grandfather and great-uncles in the First World Ward.

Wreaths were laid at the Stone of Remembrance by representatives of various Commonwealth countries and other groups. Children from the Berlin British School each laid a single sunflower on 15 graves. Prayers and speeches were given.

Rhiannon and her frozen feet went to look at the names on the graves and was uncharacteristically silent with the knowledge that all the fallen were in their late teens and early twenties.

The cemetery was created in 1945 as a burial ground for air crew and prisoners of war who died whilst interred in the Berlin area and in East Germany. The cemetery lies under the protection of the British Crown, and so belongs to the UK. In total there are 3,576 graves in the cemetery. Several are unmarked.

At the end of the service we headed back to the car. We were very cold. But we remembered the hardships our forces endure and endured, and kept quiet.

We could leave this corner of a foreign field and go home.

 

The Soldier by Rupert Brooke

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by the suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Japan in Germany

At the end of half term, Rhiannon and I caught the Magic Bus for a special day trip. We went to see an exhibition of Ukiyo-e by Hokusai at the Martin-Gropius-Bau museum.

"Featuring over 400 works organised according to the various stages of Hokusai’s career, the exhibition is the first major retrospective of Hokusai’s work outside Japan in recent memory."

As well as a chance to see some of the most famous and popular Japanese art, we also met up with a friend of mine from Tokyo who moved to Berlin in the summer. Rhiannon and her son are the same age and were in the same class in school in Tokyo; they get on well together and she was really excited to see him again.

The exhibition had been extended for a few days so we were very lucky to get to it. Apparently the queues had been around the block for most of the time it was here. Although it was busy on our visit, there was enough space to be able to enjoy the art.

Ukiyo-e is a combination of drawing, wood carving and printing which has produced some amazing and very famous works. The 'Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagawa' by Hokusai is probably the most widely known Ukiyo-e print.

With over 400 original art works in this retrospective, and with two kids in tow, we weren't able to fully appreciate every single one of the pieces, but what we did see was fantastic. The amount of work that goes into creating each piece is astounding. We watched a very informative and inspiring film showing every painstaking step of the process. The patience and skill required is incredible.

Seeing the original of the 'Great Wave' was akin to seeing the 'Mona Lisa'.

Many others were worthy of mention too. I was particularly impressed with some of the 'Puzzle Pictures'; these had kanji characters hidden in in the outline of the picture. Rhiannon and I had fun trying to work these out. She also enjoyed the pictures depicting ghost stories. Luckily, the labels were in English so we could easily read them.

And just as she was flagging and getting bored I noticed a picture designed to attract the most jaded of children. It was entitled "The Fart"!

Need I say more?

 

 

The Magic Bus

What a difference a simple discovery makes.

I've a few events I need to find my way to in the coming months. So I've been looking online for help as there's precious little to be had in real life. And help I found! In the form of a clever website called the BVG Journey Planner. Just put in the street address where you live, add your destination which can be as simple as a place of interest such as a museum, and search. A detailed list comes up telling you which bus to catch, which station to disembark and underground train connections. It's amazing! It even tells you how long it takes to walk to the bus stop.

I really don't like travelling by train, so managed to find simple bus connections to most places I need to visit. Not only that, but often I can stay on one bus for the entire journey. This makes travelling around Berlin so much simpler and I wish I'd found this website a lot sooner. It would have made my isolation less depressing and much easier to deal with.

I was extolling these website virtues to our neighbours last week and they called a certain bus 'The Magic Bus' as it seems to take you everywhere of importance.

So this past week I climbed aboard the Magic Bus. And it was fantastic!

I'd decided to take a trip to Galeries Lafayette. Just to see what it was like.

My BVG website instructions were to catch the Magic Bus from the end of my road and get off at Checkpoint Charlie. Yes, that's right! Checkpoint Charlie; that familiar name from the Cold War, the crossing point between East and West Berlin.

It was a strange sight, that's for sure. The original shack was destroyed but there's a replica in it's place with fake soldiers yawning for the tourists.

I took some photos with my phone (and then spent nearly two days trying to find the cable so I could transfer them onto my PC.)

Apparently this is the Last Kremlin Flag...

The famous sign as seen from the "West".

And the same sign as seen from the "East".

Unfortunately, the pictures I took of the checkpoint hut didn't come out, but I was amused to see that the first building in the "American Sector" was... McDonalds, of course!

So after this rather unexpected trip back in time, I walked up the long, straight road to Galeries Lafayette.

Checkpoint Charlie was the best experience of the day. Galeries Lafayette was a disappointment, so I retraced my steps back to the Magic Bus and headed home.

I felt infinitely better about our new home for having found my way around all by myself. Having a feeling of independence certainly makes life a lot easier.

 

Holocaust Memorial

Today is yet another public holiday here. So we took the bus and a train into the Mitte - the centre of Berlin. This is near Tim's workplace so he knew the area a little.

In the muggy heat of a June day we went for lunch at a very mediocre café.

Across the road was a mass of rectangular blocks. Hundreds of them. It's the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe aka the Holocaust Memorial.

19,000 square metres of 2,711 concrete slabs. They look like slate - dark grey and very smooth to touch.

We weren't allowed into the information centre as it's not open to children under the age of 14. Understandable, but tricky to explain to Rhiannon why is was unsuitable for her. I feel everyone should know about the Holocaust and I've explained a little to her, but her young brain cannot conceive the unparalleled horror of it. Neither can mine, really.

You can wander around amongst the stelae, as the slabs are called. They are arranged in a grid pattern on sloping ground and are of varying heights. Undulating paths lead through the slabs. According to Wikipedia they "are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere".

That description is not wrong.

Just after I took the photo above, I was overwhelmed by the largest dark cloud and burst into tears. I sobbed "I can't stay in here" and ran out to the edge.

I'm not claustrophobic. The thought that popped into my head was something along the lines of "these look like the huts in the concentration camps".

At least I could leave.

I can't explain my reaction. I'll try another day.

Once I'd composed myself and met up with Tim and a concerned and slightly confused Rhiannon we went to see the Brandenburg Gate.

This is where the Berlin Wall used to be. Only marked by the right-angle of bricks in the road.

And a slightly wonky photo of the Reichstag.

Then we went home.

I feel weird.