OK, we saw the Reichstag building, the Brandenburg Gate and the Holocaust Memorial in the morning of Day 1, and in the afternoon walked through the Tiergarten Park to the Berlin Zoo.The Holocaust Memorial was a moving experience, but the zoo was appalling; it was like stepping back fifty years when a token patch of stony, dusty enclosure was thought to be appropriate for African elephants which are in the habit of covering several miles during the course of a day. Here they just had to plod miserably round and round with not a leaf or a blade of grass for them to graze.
Day 2 we want to Potsdam to the two palaces and in the evening ate together as a group in the hotel restaurant.
Sunday morning saw us on the train again, to Dresden, a couple of hours away. A quick visit to our room, a brief snack, and then it was time for a walking tour of the heart of the old city. It's called the old city but Bomber Command left virtually nothing standing with carpet bombing raids. After the war the rubble was cleared and the reusable stone was catalogued and stored. In subsequent years, with the help of old photos, drawings and paintings, the city was reconstructed - literally from the ground up.
The result is both impressive and convincing, and I thoroughly enjoyed that couple of hours.
We completed our walk in the main market square in front of the famous Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady). Some of us went into the church which is well worth the visit, then as a service was due to start, we were herded out through a side exit, down some steps. Suddenly, I was tripped and was propelled headlong down the steps, hitting the ground very heavily. I knew immediately that something was very wrong with my left arm. Two girls rolled jumpers and put them under my head for a pillow, a man gently, but firmly put me into the recovery position, an ambulance was called -
- and there ended my third attempt to take my wife to Prague.
Technical detail: proximal spiral fracture of left humerus. Now fixed with a metal plate and a load of screws. Thank you and good night!
Really sorry to learn of your accident. We stayed at the same hotel in Berlin on our rail trip to Russia two years ago and are hoping to do Dresden and Prague next year so I was looking forward to your report. We have just returned from a month in Mojacar so I shall be very interested in reading your views on the Spanish Elections later this month. With very best wishes for a speedy recovery, I do hope everything goes well in that respect.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness what an awful thing to happen, Wishing you a Speedy Recovery.
ReplyDelete