As usual, I'm totally backwards...This was our last day in Berlin!

Talk about random...these pictures haven't been edited, they were taken mostly from a moving car as we left Berlin, 'cause we didn't have time to sight see after our family history seminar, so what you see is what you get...

This was a bouquet I received from the Berlin Stake for participating in the seminar/conference we presented, but I included it so you could see how they use branches in everything they do. Their flower arrangements are incredible. Note this tree--really weird. See those balls or bunches sitting in the trees? I thought they were old bird nests, but they are just leaves that never fall. We have lots of these trees by our office, and they're just fun to see.

This statue represents John the Beloved, and this church bears his name. It has been bombed out at least twice and rebuilt, ... the door of the building is really creepy, with sculpture representing people in Hell, a snake curling up the middle, and just anything but an invitation to enter!! Wrong order again. The door is down below a ways.

These were just random shots taken in the same block as the church...

The door!

This church below is famous for having been bombed during the war (at least once). It's on the East German side, and I visited it 40 years ago when I was here. They have since built the fancy octagonal glass church around it, but I'm glad they didn't remove what was left of the original.

Same church.

Yup, same church...

Government building...

Random church...

Modern, pointy architecture...I think a guy could get a pretty close shave on that one!

Building, river, profile of Hank!

They like domes.

That's all, folks.

Berlin Trip - February 13-14, 2009

After traveling nearly 5-1/2 hours to Berlin on Friday, we arrived at the stake center (which you saw above, I hope) and decided how to set up the next morning. We couldn't set up that night, as the young adults were having a dance in the church.

We learned that the stake building is located just at the edge of the area known as "The Tiergarten," which could be translated as "zoo," but in this case it means the large natural park set up a few hundred years ago by the nobles so they would have a place to hold hunting parties. It covers many square miles, in which the nobles maintained herds of deer and other animals for their hunting pleasures, but woe be to the non-aristocrat caught poaching. It would probably have led to the death sentence. This is in the very heart of Berlin.

As the town grew up, the Tiergarten was off limits for construction of buldings, and it is absolutely amazing that the Church was able to build a stake center right on the edge and on the side of one of the two roads that have been built across it. There are only two roads going north and south through the Tiergarten, and the church is on one of them, called "Klingelhöfer Strasse," which becomes "Jägers Allee" (Hunters' Alley) as it continues north. The only road going east and west through the garten is known as "The Seventeenth of June" on the West-German side. This street was formerly known as "Unter den Linden" (Under the Lime Trees), and it still carries that name on the Communist side, but the name on the west side was changed to recall the shame of the Communist tanks attacking demonstrators who were on foot on June 17, 1953.

Anyhow, at the intersection of these two roads is a huge monument which is called the "Siegessäule" (Victory Tower or Tower of Triumph), celebrating the German victory over Napoleon's army. We could see it from the church, and that prompted our walk up the road and the clicking of our cameras.

The monument is in the center of a Kreisel (or round-about), where the cars just go in a circle and exit where they want. It is huge.

Dad and Elder Howlett examining some sculpture.

Below you see an entrance to a stairway, which takes you underground in order to cross the intersection. It is a huge tunnel going in all directions, so you can reach whichever direction you need.

Then I saw the radio tower and thought I'd take a picture, when Sis. Howlett said, "Isn't that the Brandenberg Gate?" Well, didn't I feel silly!! I didn't even know what it looked like! So, we decided to walk up to the gate and see what Unter den Linden looked like as we went. It is an absolutely beautiful street, with elegant light posts, flowers, etc., and that was in frosty February.

We passed the famous Russian monument on the left as we walked. It is really beautiful and honors the Russian soldiers who died during the war. It starts with this tank, and you can see new capitol building in the background, dome-shaped and all modern among all the old.

We're getting closer to the gate. Hitler used to march his troops around the open spaces by the gate. These films were used in propaganda films.

The statue above is facing the east, below I am facing the west to see the front of the statue. I'm sorry, but I can't remember who is in the statue. It was stolen by someone once, but apparently it got returned. Someone search their history books for me, okay?

And here is the latest in taxi service! Wish I would have been rich enough. Our walk turned out to be about 5 miles, and we weren't in walking shoes!! Isn't it cute?

This is where John F. Kennedy spoke to the Berliners when he visited. We learned that he said something kind of funny, though. He wanted to speak German, so he said, "Ich bin ein Berliner," which would have been nice, but it literally means, "I am a Berliner," which is a donut. He needed to just say, "Ich bin Berliner," which just means I'm from Berlin. Funny little nuance gone awry. Oh, well. Join the crowd, JFK!! Anyhow, there's a museum to honor the Kennedy's.

And I suckered into the "tourist" mode and had my picture taken with the soldiers representing the U.S. and Russia. They weren't real soldiers and only wanted to practice their English and get your Euro, but oh, well....

Two Churches from Mainz

This first church is architecture at its highest on the outside, and it doesn't seem to stop once you're inside. This is the church from the back. It is immense. And I think they kept wood carvers and stone masons busy for centuries. The pictures from the inside are poor. I've got a lot to learn about taking pictures in the dark!! The church is sooooo large that its immensity is filled by these floor to ceiling carvings, which were awesome and absolutely monstrous. So, inside we go... This is the pulpit from which the priest gives his sermons. They seem to wander from the front of the chapel (where the sacrament is given, etc.,) to these beautiful pulpits. Above the pulpit is an ornately carved "umbrella" of sorts that sort of covers the priest. This doesn't do it justice, as the wood was gold-leafed and so very ornate.

A typical doorway.

More gold leaf, more priests, more angels.
Same thing from a distance. I wish I knew high how high the ceilings were, but this is only about a third of the way up, (maybe halfway).

More carving...

I found this interesting. It's the entrance to the crypts. I sort of chose not to go down. I understand they re-use the "caskets," and they are often in the process of making a change!

This is the church from the front. It has been burned down several times and always rebuilt. I kind of ask myself how something made of stone could burn, but it's easy to understand how all the carvings inside are destroyed.
This church was a good, long walk from the one above, much smaller, but so interesting.

From the outside, this church won't make anyone hold their breath, although it is beautiful, but it is famous for its stained glass windows, created by Marc Chagall. You've probably heard about them. They are sooooo remarkable. My pictures don't begin to do them justice, but if you'd take a minute to Google "Chagall" on the Internet, you'd be glad. His works are so unlike any other stained glass I've seen. You just want to sit down in the church and gaze at them, especially as we had a superbly sunny day and they were highlighted as they should be.

I'll just let you browse...

The end. Get on the Internet and learn about Chagall's windows. He's Russian-born. I'd like to learn about his life.

Farmer's Market at Guttenberg

This doesn't do justice to this farmers' market, as it ran for several blocks and was "tent to tent" all the way, but we had fun looking at all the booths and seeing the wares. My first "booth" was this book display, and of course, I had to get something!! So, did I get something intellectual? Did I get a coffee table book of German scenery? Did I get some replicas of the Guttenberg Bible pages? No, I bought a used copy of Onkel Tom's Hutte, Noah's Arsche, and Die Ente Quak, the story of a goose's journey. Yes, I'm crazy, but you can all say that your kids read German literature, 'cause Noah's Arsche is identical to our Noah's Ark (which, of course, has no words, just illustrations!)!! And, the illustrations in the Uncle Tom's Cabin book are incredibly beautiful. I just love them. And the goose story is just cute. I just took this picture as we wandered among the tents, just to show the varied architecture in Germany, modern versus ancient.

And this little man was the real thing--lederhosen and all, the pointed hat, the long stockings, the boots, everything! It reminded me of one of our walks where we saw the contrast of the ages. Two men were taking a very brisk walk (with their ski poles, etc.), and one was dressed like this gentleman, lederhosen to the hilt, and his walking partner had on a very new pair of jeans, Keds, and a sweatshirt. They were both probably in their early 70s, and we got a real kick out of them. I wish I had had my camera with me then!

And these next pictures reminded me of the old Providence bazaars. I didn't know that anyone but the Relief Society would bag pasta and put a costume on it to sell! Some real imagination was used here!

This picture was taken to show you how much the Germans love their dogs! They are seldom without them. We've been in many a store or beauty salon or whatever, and next to the owner's desk will be either a large doggy pillow, a basket like this one, or whatever it takes to make the dog comfortable! Maybe you could consider taking Sammy and Jake to work, huh Jim and Matt?
This was my favorite part of the market. This aged, bent, little old lady was selling her eggs and greens, and she had her life written all over her. She is Germany!

And that was our tour of the farmers' market!! Wish you could have seen all the colorful tents! Maybe next time.

Guttenberg Museum - Saturday, March 7, 2009

We started out in winter coats, umbrellas ('cause it was raining in Bad Homburg), and wondering if we should stay home, but the farther we went, the more beautiful the weather, and the day turned out perfect. The Senior couples had a wonderful morning in Mainz, where we visited the Guttenberg Museum, learned some great history lessons, and then people-watched and church-visited!!

So, here's the front of the museum, a really beautiful building! I'm not sure what all goes on in the building itself, but our tour actually took place in another building behind this one, the basement of which housed the actual printing presses, etc. The upper floors housed incredible historical artifacts, pages from original Bibles, tools used, etc. We learned that it took a monk three years to copy a Bible by hand, and with Guttenberg's new press, he printed 180 Bibles in three years, so about 60 a year. We also learned that printing was only part of the process. Depending on how wealthy you were, you would then have an artist paint the pages; for example, making the first letter of the word on a page in beautiful calligraphy and decorating the page in various other ways. The more money, the more decoration! I'm excited to get on line and learn more about the process. Our tour was in English, done by a charming woman who spoke English better than we do. Just outside the museum is a "bench" depicting the Bible. Rather interesting!

Here's a page of "letters" ready to be printed, and one of the Elders got to do the mechanics of this and keep the printed page. He was thrilled!

This picture shows a picture of Guttenberg (far right) and his men working. We were told that no picture was made of Guttenberg until a hundred years after his death, so they dressed him in the garb of that era instead of his, and stuck a beard on him, 'cause that was also the style of that era. We learn instead, that Guttenberg was clean-shaven (they joked about how his beard would have become stuck in the press if he had had one), and the clothing was not of his era. Oh, well. I don't suppose he minded.

Here our guide is holding a block of wood where the letters are placed as they form the words and sentences.

And I throw in this picture, 'cause it teaches how we got "upper" and "lower" case. The capital letters were all kept in the top (or upper) cases, and the lower case letters were kept below them. Thus, upper and lower case letters. (Compliments of Bro. Howlett, our resident historian!)

And here's a tired Dad posing at the press for me! Neither of us should have gone on the tour, as we both had to speak in Sacrament the next day, and Dad had to give the Priesthood lesson as well. But we survived the tour and are glad we went!!