“Last Thursday we saw Gaby in Merrylands. She waited for us near Merrylands Station. Honey, her dog, was with her. Honey had been bitten by a big dog a bit over a week ago. She had needed some stitches which cost Gaby a lot of money. On Thursday these stitches were due to come out. We didn’t have to go far from the station to the vet’s surgery. Honey had her stitches out in no time. She seems to be all right now.”
This is what I wrote a bit over three years ago. It brings back to mind, how this happened that Honey got bitten. This vicious dog who bit Honey belonged to a woman who was nasty to Gaby. I think she shouted at Gaby, something very unpleasant. As far as I know, she was about the only person who ever treated Gaby in a nasty way. Otherwise Gaby always experienced a lot of kindness from people she met. I seem to remember that Gaby thought that this woman was jealous because she noticed that Gaby was always treated in a very kind way by people.
A few weeks later, when we were walking along with Gaby somewhere in Merrylands, Gaby pointed out to us a woman and a man with a big dog. Gaby said that this was the dog that had bitten Honey. She also said that the police had cautioned these people that they should take better control of their dog. Gaby had great expense paying for the treatment of Honey after she had been bitten so severely. However Gaby thought it would be of no use asking these people for compensation. She did not want anything to do with them. I think that woman had once abused Gaby before this incident with Honey. Gaby was just glad that this woman kept her distance after that incident with Honey.
Recently I reflected a lot on our past two overseas travels. One trip to Berlin we did five years ago and another one two and a half years ago. When we travel we always try to economise, meaning we are not out to stay in expensive hotels or visit restaurants that are well above our budget. The greatest extra expense we consider to be the air-travel ticket plus insurance. Since both Peter and I are going to be past eighty when we travel next time the insurance is going to be sky high! We usually book a flight well in advance and look for special offers. The last two times we did fly with Malaysian Airline from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur and from there we had connecting flights with KLM. We thought these flights via Kuala Lumpur were pretty good. Soon we want to find out what’s on offer for next year.
2016 is going to be a huge family reunion in Berlin. Our Australian family is already planning for all this. Some members in our family have never been to Berlin yet and are very keen to get to know a bit about the city and the German family members who live there. Especially Peter’s sister Ilse is very hopeful that a large family meeting can take place next year in Berlin. She and Finn are already thinking about all the arrangements that can be made. One of our grandsons is busy making plans about all the destinations where he and his family intend to travel to. He worked out that a nine day stay in Berlin could be included. They also want to stay for a few days in London and maybe some days in Switzerland, and I think there was also talk about Paris.
When Peter heard that they plan on staying for nine days in Berlin, he soon thought about a number of places he could show them in Berlin. Peter knows Berlin very well, partly from personal experience but a lot he knows because he keeps himself always up to date on the internet about what is going on in Berlin. When it come to history, he can tell you a thing or two about Berlin’s history as well. The past few days he published memories about the last days in Berlin before the end of World War Two. You can look it up under:
There are diary entries of Peter’s mother which he translated. Also, Peter’s own comments about these eventful days continue for several days.
It is amazing how much Peter remembers about this time seventy years ago. This was just a few days before he turned ten! He also likes to read up on official records about the last days in Berlin before the end of the war, and he is also always looking for relevant pictures from that time.
A street in Berlin-FriedrichshainThis is where my niece lives in Friedrichshain.
There’s no lift in the building, but a beautiful staircase.
Here I see Carlos, the son of my niece, for the first time.This picture was taken some other day with Klaudia and Corinna.I took this picture of Peter with my brother Peter Uwe and partner Astrid.This is a street in Berlin-Friedenau where my brother Bodo used to live.Peter took this picture on my brother Bodo’s 72nd birthday.Some time later. . .‘ ‘ ‘ we met Ilse and her friend Erica in Berlin-Friedenau.
That same day we went with Ilse to this ‘Friedhof’.The ashes of Peter’s and Ilse parents and of Ilse’s husband are buried here.This site is in one of the next rows.
“Pankstraße is a Berlin U-Bahn station located on the U8. It was opened on October 5, 1977 (Rümmler) with the line’s extension from Gesundbrunnen to Osloer Straße. The station’s name derives from its location: It sits under the intersection of Pankstraße and Badstraße.
The actual spelling of the station’s name is under debate. The German orthographic rules call for the spelling “Pankstraße”, but the signs inside the station spell “Pankstrasse”.
Like the station Siemensdamm (Berlin U-Bahn), the station is constructed as a “Multi Purpose Facility”. It is prepared and partially stocked to be used as a NBC shelter. It is specified to sustain 3339 people for 14 days.”
This is one of the churches that Schinkel built in the 19th century.This area used to be an outer norther suburb of Berlin. Now there is lots of traffic and U-Bahn Pankstrasse close by.Do you recognise this building?
Here you can find an impressive list of Berlin U-Bahn stations:
I copied the following from the Wikipedia. Five years ago Peter and I lived for four weeks in this area. I must say we felt quite at home there. People were all very friendly. We liked the diversity of people and the many different shops and eating places. And it was also very much to our liking that everything seemed to be very affordable.
“Today, Wedding is one of the poorest areas of Berlin, with a high unemployment rate (almost 26%). Almost 17% of the population live on social welfare; 27% live below the poverty line.[1] Foreigners make up 30% of the population.[2] Low rents accompany the poverty in Wedding so, like many inexpensive areas in large cities, it is home to a vibrant artists’ community. Many galleries have been founded by artists to provide a space for themselves and their peers to show their work.
Wedding has so far not experienced the boom and gentrification of the 1990s in Berlin. Unlike many other 19th-century working class districts like Prenzlauer Berg, the original character of Wedding has been mostly preserved. However, more recently more and more students and artists move to Wedding due to still lower rents as mentioned above and fairly high level of life quality. As a result some new, more bohemian cafés and clubs opened, organic food stores and markets are established, an urban gardening project has successfully started and high-brow galleries discover that area.[3][4][5][6] It is still said though to be a place to find the Schnauze mit Herz (big mouth and big heart) of the Berlin working class.
Along with Kreuzberg, Wedding is one of the most ethnically diverse localities of Berlin. The multicultural atmosphere is visible in the bilingual shop signs (predominantly German and Turkish or German and Arabic).
In recent years Wedding has seen a significant influx of African people. Wedding is also home to an East Asian community, mostly from China, which is reflected in many Asian and African stores and restaurants. As of 2011, the ethnic make-up of Wedding was 52% of German origin, 18% Turks, 6% Sub-Saharan Africa, 6% Arabs, 6% Polish, 5% former Yugoslavia, and 4.5% Asian.”
In 2010 we lived in Bastianstrasse that is near Pankstrasse. The nearest U-Bahnhof (underground station) was PANKSTRASSE.
At this underground station we had to change when we went to Scharnweberstrasse.This is the U-Bahn station near where Ilse lives.
This way to Scharnweberstrasse where Ilse lives.
From Wikipedia:
“Scharnweberstraße is a Berlin U-Bahn station located on the U6. It was constructed by B. Grimmek in 1958. Due to the extension of the U6, the trains had to go above ground after Kurt-Schumacher-Platz station. Soil for the embankment on which the line is built came from excavations for the U9, which was being built in parallel. As the trains had to go above ground, Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), who operate the Berlin U-Bahn, had to install windscreen wipers on the trains.”
Going for a walk close to where we lived in Berlin-Wedding in June 2010. This is: Am Brunnenplatz in Pankstrasse.
This was on a nice warm day in June. Our first outing was on the 31st of May to the Brandenburg Gate. On that day it was still horribly cold and windy!
A lot of places we could reach by underground.Here I am with Peter’s sister Ilse.At Ilse’s place with KlaudiaEntrance to Ilse’s ApartmentIlse at her Computer
There’s a balcony attached to Ilse’s kitchen where I liked to sit.
We arrived in Berlin on the 31st of May 2010. We had booked an apartment in Bastian Strasse in Wedding, the north of Berlin. It was a studio apartment with kitchen, balcony and bathroom. We loved the little balcony. It was perfect for sitting outside with a cup of coffee or tea and a bite to eat. The sun was on it nearly all day.
This is Bastian Strasse
We had this little apartment all to ourselves for four weeks. The fifth week we spent in Neu-Canow with my brother and his wife. And the last week of our holidays Peter’s sister put us up in her very small apartment. But more about this later.
I think we were the last guests in that apartment in Bastian Street. The lady who owned this place said she was about to sell the place to a young couple.
Today I did make it to the bridge from where this large house on top of Mt.Brown can be seen. I wanted to take a picture of this house. It can really be seen quite clearly from that bridge. However my pictures did not turn out clearly enough. I have to try it again some other time, maybe at a different time of the day. Anyhow, I show the pictures I took, even though you cannot see very much of that beautiful house. But maybe you get an idea.
There is a freeway underneath the bridge. On both sides of the bridge is a huge fence.
Still a lot of activity with water improvement works!
This is what I noticed in one of the neighbouring gardens
This is a public grass area. Brooks Creek is next to these trees on the left, to the right are houses.
Looking from here Brooks Creeks is on the right behind the trees.
Still a busy street with water improvement works.
My knee was playing up a bit this morning, so I had to walk very slowly. But at least I could take some pictures. I also could talk to some of my neighbours, who happened to be outside.
AuntyUta 