Tuesday

DAY 13


Sunday 24 July 2011

After late breakfast and coffee we headed to the train station to buy passes for two days, a much better idea than trying to navigate any big Euro city and pay a fortune for parking. It was a treat to be escorted by our friend from LA, Mareike, a native East Berliner now back living in Berlin. Our walking tour took us to Checkpoint Charlie, where East dramatically met West during the height of the Cold War. The museum there was fascinating, giving insight through photos, films and short paragraphs into what that period was like for post-war Germans trapped, then literally walled into isolation from the Western world.

There remained the small wooden white guard station from those days, and a very large photo of a soldier (American if you were facing one direction, Russian from the other) to give you some idea of what it was like then (but without the massive fortifications, soldiers and arms that made it clear you didn’t go either direction without permission from both sides). 
We went nearby the guard station to get photos, then Charles noticed that the young man in an American army uniform of that era, holding a big American flag, seemed to have a European accent. He then realized this guy was not official, and was there to pose for photos, for a fee of course. 

Charles turned to him and asked, what nationality are you? “I’m a citizen of the world,” he said. Yes, but what country are you from? “I come from the earth,” he replied. “That’s nice, but you’re wearing an American army uniform. I wore that uniform…” he said, then stopped short of engaging him further, realizing the guy was so clueless that his job involved an offense to everyone who ever risked their life to wear that uniform, that there was no point. (Later we saw more fake GIs near the Brandenberg Gate, flirting and dancing around.) We figured at some point some veteran who actually ducked bullets would probably give this guy a lecture he’d remember, if not a commemorative black eye. We were glad we never had to go through Checkpoint Charlie, as Dian’s parents and siblings did, to visit the relatives we would be staying with in Dresden. It was creepy.
We continued our guided foot tour of Berlin, around to the Brandenberg Gate
                                                                         
and remnants of The Wall

and the Reichstag. 
Mareike showed us the building where the Nazi HQ was (Gestapo, 2nd floor), and next to it an open area below which was Hitler’s secret bunker, where he committed suicide. Along one side was a long series of columns with a chronological history of the Nazi rise and fall, with dramatic photos and film clips. We all learned some things we didn’t know, but the overall picture was still shocking. You really saw how the German population was manipulated by this madman (note: not trying to relieve those people, of that time, of responsibility), and that events in our country the last 10 years made us realize it could happen anywhere.









Holocaust commemoration monument 



We headed back and ate at a knockout Greek restaurant in Mareike’s neighborhood of Pankow, then concluded the evening with music (Nicole on bass and guitar, Mareike and Dian on guitars, Charles on vidcam, all on vocals). Mareike sang for us some lovely German folk songs. We finished with "Scarborough Fair" and Dian thought of her mom and dad and their family sing-alongs. Mareike said she would be working the next day, so we would be on our own! We still needed to figure out a GPS, tent and camera stuff. LOTS of adventures were ahead! Thanks for blogging along with us.


Injuring her foot after dismounting her trusty steed, Nicole had to be carried part of the way home (... not really, she just wanted a piggy-back ride)

 

DAY 12

Saturday 23 July 2011


We were ready by 7 AM for the very long (770 km/460 mi) drive to Berlin. Jerry, in yet another act of kindness and generosity had warm croissants on the table at that early hour and even packed some for the road. We got out of Brussels after a few misplaced wanderings, then felt the whoosh of cars going REALLY fast as they whizzed by us on the autobahn (no speed limits most of the time). At last some chance for good tunes, courtesy of Nicole’s iPod – Huddie Ledbetter, Grisman and Garcia, Dr John, Lovin’ Spoonful, Of Montreal, Stones, The Harder They Come, Gipsy Kings, Stevie Wonder.....on the road again.

Stopped to use wi-fi at McDonald's but couldn’t make it work – almost nine bucks wasted on a bigger, flatter, still-crappy burger. Got gas and oil (old vans often drink oil like water, and a liter - not quite a quart - costs 14-32 euros/$20-45), then traveled on with downloaded directions and a not-detailed-enough map. 


By 6 PM we were NEAR Mareike’s apartment but after three more knuckle-whitening, marriage-testing hours and many friendly strangers with directions lacking one piece of correct information, like sending us the wrong direction when we were 10 minutes away, or saying “follow this street all the way till it ends” and turning around somewhere near Denmark because it never did end and exits are sometimes as rare as English-speaking Frenchmen, we finally bought a map of Berlin ($12!) that came with more advice that would have been disastrous, but Charles looked at the map and figured it out. We finally understood why all our European friends said you MUST have GPS -- it’s because most Europeans do not know how to direct you to someplace 10 blocks away (of course, those blocks do look like spider webs).



As was the case with finally finding Jerry’s, we three zombies revived with some delicious food from Mareike, and champagne, and tequila for dessert, and after catching up with our friend (all were shocked to realize it had been 15 years), fell into bed… well, Charles and Nicole didn’t, because they accepted an offer they couldn’t refuse. 


They went by subway at midnight to Mareike’s friend’s gay bar (Serene), and saw the trains packed with nightlife denizens. Per Mareike’s description it was a very friendly place where 17-yr-old Nicole and only-man-in-the-place Charles felt quite comfortable. Mareike said she doesn’t go that often, but a dozen or more people greeted her like an old friend, and owner Mona and the barkeeps let her scoot behind the bar for huge smiles and hugs. Charles was so happy to be a Berlin NightHawk that he even danced. Then to bed by 3 (4 for Charles and Mareike, who had more catching up to do).


Serene (the club)
Mona, Mareike, and Nicole out past her bedtime - it's Berlin, it's Saturday night!

DAY 11



Friday 22 July 2011



The Mary's Extravaganza:
Belgian chocolate heaven!
Even though it's difficult for Jerry to get around, he drove us to the first ever covered mall, and was planning to drop us for a day of sightseeing, but ended up staying with us. It was a treat to have so knowledgeable a guide.


We asked him what the best Belgian chocolate was, to which he authoritatively and unequivocally replied, "You can't find it here in Brussels - it's called Mary Chocolatier." Although we were disappointed, we jumped for joy five minutes later when we stumbled upon the new Mary opened just months before in the mall. Charles ran back to tell Jerry the good news and he wasted no time rising from his comfortable perch at an outdoor table to investigate. He gave us a tour of the store crammed with delights and chatted up the clerks like he built and owned the place. Have you ever tried 100% dark chocolate? That and many others were sampled before we made our choice of what to buy for Dian's parents, and for Jerry, and well, yes, a couple for ourselves.
The view from our table in the plaza
He took us to the museum of Brussel's history, and we saw the display his wife had spearheaded. We spent the most time in that room full of costumes from every country, sent to clothe the peeing Little Boy statue that was so famous there. Jerry treated us to beers in the main plaza under a light rain. Oh yeah, the delights of Europe!

We freshened up at Jerry's then headed out for a decadent meal of eel, mussels and assorted fish at a fourth generation fish restaurant called La Marie Joseph. Fantastic! When asked if dessert was wanted we winked and said, "no." (All except Charles, who didn't know that Nicole had bought profiteroles at the bakery earlier. These were a "coupon redemption" from his birthday, three promised treats from all over The Continent.) When we returned to Jerry's we had a wonderful last night with the sweet taste of the profiteroles and a fine port wine in our mouths.

Our erudite gourmet host Jerry


When Jerry's not whipping up fabulous food in his own kitchen, he know where to take ya! 
Profiteroles!

DAY 10


Thursday 21 July 2011
Brussels
We bid adieu to the Smalhout-Gorin family and their beautiful home and set out for Belgium and Dian’s dad’s cousin Jerry Smolar, San Pedro born and bred but now five decades in Brussels. The drive across Holland and Belgium was very pretty, some small forests and lots of open farm country.
Jerry's home

Upon hitting the the city limits of Brussels we began to look for his street. Armed with Jerry's complete directions, we erred by getting off at the wrong basilica. How many basilicas does one town need?? THREE HOURS LATER we managed to crawl to Jerry's doorstep and the warm, welcoming arms of him and his enchanting 1960s apartment. Every room was decorated with beautiful antiques and books, books and more books. Jerry is a European historian, and his late wife was a museum director in Brussels, and we had the pleasure of seeing her work there.


Jerry's bountiful Brussels back yard
After a fabulous multi-course veal roast meal - who knew we were staying with a gourmet cook?! - we retired for the evening.
Jerry has more books per square foot in a home than we've ever seen!

Wednesday

DAY 9

Wedesday 20 July 2011


We got up and took the nearby metro to the Anne Frank house. Very moving. Headed toward the Rijks Museum in no rush we had a great time snaking through the narrow curving city center streets, loving a large helping of Belgian-style double-fried french fries with endless garlic mayo dip, and popping into all manner of shops. We had an especially great time in a music store and a book store.
Sugar and Spice had an amazing music selection

The Rijks was under construction but still impressive. Rembrandt's "Night Watch" covered a huge wall, and we decided the famous Dutch masters are much better when seen larger than a cigar box. Many masters were on view, but the Vermeers and especially the Rembrandts stood out like Mickey Mantle in a little league game. Otherworldly.
Upon leaving we had a friendly gesture from a young entrance guard who responded to our request for directions by running inside and bringing back a map printout. We found the right tram, but got soaked when a downpour hit us exiting at the end of the line. Herman came to the rescue by sparing us more tram time and giving us a lift home from his office. A heaping portion of homemade spaghetti gave us the energy to catch up on our blogs!

DAY 8

Tuesday 19 July 2011

Deborah drove us into the city center to shop and look around. We wound our way to the Amsterdam Dungeon Show, a "horrible history brought to life," where Charles, Benji and Paolo were unwillingly snatched as audience participants. We especially liked the pirate in a pub pick-up scene.

Seriously dangerous!
We met Herman for drinks at the famous Cafe Luxembourg, then to dinner at Casa di David, in the building where Herman (whose father was named David) was born and grew up. The food was fabulous but even more impressive was when Herman showed us the water-level doorway where he saw the Beatles pass close by on a publicity canal ride in 1964. How many can claim that? After dinner on the drive home, Herman gave us the Amsterdam by night tour.

Amsterdam has great street art!



Day 7

Monday 18 July 2011


We left Roos and Henri’s at 11:15 AM. They generously gave us trip provisions, and we drove two and a half hours to Amsterdam in light rain. Truly on our own, for the first time.
Driving into Amsterdam
Sans GPS (for now), we made it to the neighborhood of our old friends Deborah and Herman, and their sons Benji and Paolo. We pulled over at a gas station to read a map when a local parked his car, came over, showed us where we needed to go, then said “Follow me, I’ll take you there.”
Touched by an angel
We showed up at their house on Watercirkel. Deborah couldn’t believe we had such a small van! She immediately showed us around their lovely three-story home, and put out a great cheese platter lunch.
Charles and Herman
We got the grand tour of Herman’s dental office, which caters to some 2,000 patients. He specializes in a procedure that only 150 dentists in Europe can do - you could say he is the Vermeer of veneer. If you google "dentistry" he comes up number one.
Dian, Deborah
Herman came home, and with Paolo as a catalyst, we decided to see the final Harry Potter movie (which Nicole had been jonesing for for weeks).  Nicole thought she picked up a few Dutch words from the subtitles.

Day 6

Sunday 17 July 2011

We started the day with an American breakfast made by Charles and Dian. Roadside assistance, fetched by Sebastian, showed up and declared our van's transmission old and cranky but probably healthy, checked our squeaky belt and waved goodbye.

Nicole canters!
Dian enjoys!
We pitched in by weeding the garden while Roos mowed the new lawn before she took us to meet the other family members, Coletta and her yearling Fay, and under Roos' expert guidance we got a chance to ride. We all trotted and Nicole and Charles cantered too, and it wasn't even in a synagogue. Oye! We went out into a field full of foals and had a great experience petting them.


Back home, Henri was firing up the BBQ for our final night in Neerkant. We saw a double rainbow, and packed for Amsterdam the next day.
 Henri and Roos' home
A famous Dutch sky