After my brother had dropped us off at Berlin Tegel Airport we checked in and then had plenty of time to have a drink with the six family members who had come to see us off:
Peter’s cousin, Peter’s nephew, Peter’s sister and all their partners. They were all there, to see us one last time.
The flight to Amsterdam was delayed. Because of this we had less than one hour to get to hour connecting flight. When I pointed this out to a cabin crew member he inquired about my age and whether I could walk all right. I told him I couldn’t walk as fast as younger people. Voila, a drive on a buggy was arranged for Peter and me. Being driven through the immense airport with passengers roaming about and making way for the buggy, we felt like in a movie. It was a long, long drive to the departure point for our connecting flight. I doubt I could have made it in time by walking. We were extremely grateful for the lift and were able to board on time on the long stretch to Kuala Lumpur.
At Kuala Lumpur Airport we had a seven hour rest. From there we took off on a seven hour flight to Sydney. The longest non-stop stretch was from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, namely eleven hours! During this long flight Peter got sick. After that he had hardly anything to eat anymore.
This is the family who saw us off at Berlin Tegel Airport
We were grateful for the long break at Kuala Lumpur Airport. It gave us ample time to recover a bit from the previous eleven hour non-stop flight. In Kuala Lumpur Peter even enjoyed the coffee and cake we had at one of the airport’s coffee-shops. At some other establishment we had a large glass of iced Chi tea. This tasted very good and was very refreshing. On the next seven hour stretch to Sydney Peter refused food again. However he had lots of drinks all the time: Mainly water, but also some juice and coffee. He just didn’t feel like eating.
Peter and I landed safely back in Australia.Yesterday morning our daughter picked us up from Sydney airport and drove us to our home (100 km south of Sydney). So we’ve been back home now for nearly thirty hours and are gradually getting rid of our jet legs. Everything is fine at our place. Our lovely daughter is going to stay with us till tomorrow (Tuesday).
Six people had come to Berlin Tegel airport on Friday to see us off. We found the perfect place to have a drink with them. This time was very relaxing for us. We knew already that our plane to Amsterdam was going to leave somewhat later than originally planned. My brother had driven us to the airport from his place in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He had only dropped us off so he could be back home before it got too dark.
In Amsterdam we had scarce time to catch the connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur. We made sure we’d get some help by the airport people. Just as well! It turned out we had to go right to the other end of the airport. This would have meant a tremendous walk for us. We were very grateful for being driven to our departure point. I doubt that we could have made it by walking.
In Kuala Lumpur we had close to seven hours to catch our Malaysian connecting flight to Sydney. This meant we had no problem with being on time for boarding at the departure gate. It also gave us the opportunity to stretch our legs a bit and then take a break in a beautifully furnished cafe with French songs playing in the background. The toilet facilities were also very welcome. We couldn’t take a walk though through the airport’s beautiful open air jungle walk since it was closed for renovations. What a pity!
Near our departure gate we found some stretch-out chairs. Believe me, we made good use of them! Some pics of them some other time.
Today is Friday. In exactly three more weeks we’ll depart Germany to go back to Australia. So in Berlin we have only
TWELVE MORE DAYS.
Why are we kind of panicky about what to do with the last few days in Berlin? There’s no simple answer. I tell myself, don’t worry, play it by ear. Still, writing about it may help a bit to see a bit more clearly. Actually I think I am pretty laid back concerning the planning we have to do on a daily basis. Maybe too laid back. For instance I didn’t do anything yet about finding my ‘lost’ brother B. Nobody cares where he is. Do I care? Well, I do and I don’t. If only I knew what I should be doing. Is it right to do nothing? I just don’t know.
The relationship with brother B. has always been a bit strained and a bit confusing. The relationship with brother P. on the other hand was always easy going. Of course we don’t see eye to eye in everything. But I think we tend not to hold grudges against each other. As I said, easy going. This is what it mostly is.
Hubby’s sister and brother-in-law arrived from Austria just a couple of days ago. We saw them yesterday at the other sister’s place. We spent six lovely hours with them. Peter’s sister Ilse provided a home-cooked lunch. Later on we had coffee and cake. It was a very relaxed atmosphere. The five of us plus Ilse’s partner had much to talk about, since we have quite a few memories to share. The visitors are going to stay in Berlin till next Thursday. Of course they want to see us again. Only so far we have no clue when this is going to be. We tell ourselves we’ll wait and see. In the meantime there are quite a few other people who’d love to see us again before we leave Berlin.
I have childhood memories about Leipzig. It would be great to go there for a day. Going by train it’s only about two hours away from Berlin. At the moment we still think we might be able to spend one day in Leipzig. Indeed, we do think there’s still a chance we can do this as planned. There are other places in Germany we’d like to visit. Only it seems to be out of our reach at this time. I wonder whether there’s going to be another time. I guess, it all depends on our priorities, doesn’t it?
After a number of overcast days the sun is out today It’s not freezing yet but there’s a chill in the air. Since there’s no wind, we don’t feel the cold very much. A lot of trees have lost nearly all their leaves. Around the houses here in the Hansa Viertel big piles of autumn leaves are building up every day. Workers busily pack them up into huge bags and cart them away. Once another load of leaves is taken away, the lawns under the huge trees look still beautiful green.
By the way, I’m very much looking forward to spend the last few days of our stay in Germany at P’s and A’s place 100 km north of Berlin in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which is a quiet, relaxing place. Actually very few people live in this area. It is full of natural beauty and altogether very different from Berlin. Come to think of it, there are lots of quiet, relaxing places in Berlin too. But it’s also a city with millions and millions of very busy people. One thing is for sure: It’s never boring in Berlin!
We visited the Bode Museum the other day. I was very impressed by the beauty of the building and the quality of the displays. We also saw an excellent movie, called AMOUR (Liebe). This was a very slow moving film about an elderly couple (right up our alley!). It won the PALME D’OR at the FESTIVAL DE CANNES.
My brother and his wife came to see us today. They showed us pictures from the family meeting near Stuttgart. One of our cousins turned 70. For the birthday celebrations 48 family members had turned up. I had to guess who the older family members were. Some actually looked familiar to me even though I hadn’t seen them for a long time. The younger generation of course looked totally unfamiliar to me.
We went for lunch to the close by Italian restaurant at Hansaplatz. Later we had coffee at cafe Buchwald where we had some lovely cake called ‘Baumkuchen’ because the inside of the cake looks like the inside of a tree trunk. Our guests talked about a movie they had seen only yesterday. The movie is called ‘The Wall’ with MARTINA GEDECK. This is the movie we had recently seen also. I believe overall my brother kind of liked the movie too, however he would have preferred a bit more realism. His wife thought the surrealism was borderline for her. A bit more of it and she would have felt like walking out. However they both granted that it was wonderful photography and great acting by Martina Gedeck.
At church this morning the theme was: Thanksgiving. I was surprised that ‘Thanksgiving’ is celebrated already in October. There was an organ player playing songs which I didn’t know at all. The whole order of the Mass was different from what I am used to in Australia. Well, it was Catholic, wasn’t it? How come it didn’t feel the same as in Australia. I really don’t know what the difference is.
This is the church I went to this morning
I love listening to the church bells ringing.
As I said before, Berlin has many, many very well kept park areas. What is also very noticeable are the many spots where some kind of building is going on. Just in the area where we are staying plenty of public work near the streets and foot paths is going on of which I took some pictures.
They look like this when the job is finished
These rocks are being used near footpaths
Last week we saw an interesting play in the Jewish Theater. I’m going to write about this some other time.
It is a large Cemetery with lots and lots of grave sitesThe Entrance to the Cemetery
Inside the Chapel where the Funeral Service for my Cousin took place.
My Cousin’s Urn was buried right next to where her Husband’s Urn was
Frau Pastor gave a beautiful speech about my cousin’s life near the urn-grave.
My Cousin’s Family invited neighbors and friends to this lovely Restaurant where we had a well cooked meal and could talk to everyone after the Funeral. Close to twenty People were present.The Entrance to the RestaurantSome of the Decorations of this Bavarian Restaurant
Our Chinese Lunch with Dumplings. Beautiful!The last part of our journey back to Berlin took place in an ‘Ersatzzug’. Luckily this got us home earlier rather than later!
Today is already the last day of the fourth week of our stay in Germany. The week started with Sunday when we went with Angie on a beautiful boat-tour through the city. The following day (Monday, 1st October), we met Angie at Bellevue-S-Bahn-Station and had morning coffee with her at Thürmann Baker’s Cafe at Hansaplatz U-Bahn-Station. There’s a Post Office at Hansaplatz from where Angie sent off a parcel to one of her sisters. The weather was very pleasant again. Just right for a lovely walk through Tiergarten towards the Victory Column. Angie enjoyed this walk with us. Later on we met Ilse and Finn at the Italian Restaurant close to Hansaplatz, where the five of us had a very satisfying lunch again outside in the garden area.
Afternoon coffee and cake we had upstairs in our little apartment. Angie had booked in at the newly opened Holiday Inn at Alexanderplatz. She left on Tuesday to fly back to America. Peter and I went to Prenzlauer Berg on Tuesday and had dumplings at a restaurant near Rosenthalerplatz.
Wednesday it was time to travel ‘Criss-Cross-Through-the-Cauntry’ to Munich for my cousin’s Urn-Burial on Thursday. On Friday we travelled back to Berlin. Travelling time was about nine hours. We just had to change trains frequently. That way we were able to travel at a much reduced price. For the two nights in Munich we stayed with my cousin’s family. We love this family. They are such friendly people. Even though it was a very sad occasion to meet them, we still had a good time with them.
So far we’ve had always friendly weather during our stay in Germany. Today is the first day where it is quite cold, wet and dark outside.
Angie and Ilse at Ilse’s place on Sat.,29th Sept.
The restaurant where all the family met on that Saturday for dinner
Angie and Peter at Alexanderplatz,
Oktoberfest celebrations were advertised at Alexanderplatz
Now we’re looking forward to the start of our fifth week in Germany. What is it going to bring to us?
With our daughter just before we have to leaveYesterday with Klaudia on a rather cool day
I apologize for not being able to write much at present. Unfortunately I had frequent cold attacks during the past few days. Luckily there’s internet connection in our little Berlin apartment, but I think inserting pictures is going to be a slow process. This is why the bulk of the Berlin pictures I’ll safe for publication for when we’ll be back in Australia. So today I show just a small sample of the pictures we’ve taken so far.
Last Saturday, 8th September, Caroline and Matthew saw us off at Sydney airport. We had a good flight and arrived at Tegel airport in Berlin early on Sunday morning. where Klaudia was waiting for us and took us to the apartment of Peter’s sister Ilse. We stayed there for a lovely welcome. We knew our apartment wasn’t available till 2 pm. Ilse served us coffee and homemade cheesecake. She also provided a bag full of things to eat for when we would arrive at our apartment. We arrived early in the Hansa Viertel with Klaudia and all our luggage in Klaudia’a car. We passed the time walking with Klaudia through the Tiergarten towards the Teahouse of the English Garden. It was a balmy late summer day. We sat outside eating some of the beautiful food Ilse had packed for us: Slices of crusty ryebread, zwiebelwurst, Harzer cheese, butter, bananas etc. A bit later we had coffee in front of the Teahouse.
Strolling back to where Klaudia’s car was parked we arrived at the apartment at exactly 2 pm and were let in. The place turned out to be just right for us. We are going to stay in it for two months! After this we’ll stay 100 km north of Berlin in a small place called Neu Canow. For the 16th November we have booked our flight back to Australia.
Lucas, born in the early hours of Wednesday, 18th July 2012.
This is Lucas, one week oldThe parents of Lucas on the day of his birth in Wollongong HospitalGreat Grandma Uta with LucasGreat Grandparents, Uta and Peter with Baby LucasThree aunts of Lucas stayed with him for hours in the hospital room.Ebony, the Mum, likes the attention her baby son is gettingHappy faces all aroundGreat-Aunt Caroline with the babyGrandma Monika and the three Aunties had been staying already for about an hour with the proud parents and the Baby when Caroline, Peter and I arrived. They stayed for another hour or so after we left!A week later we saw Ebony at her home. Caroline holds Lucas with Ebony looking on.Caroline took this picture
Following Gaby’s passing on Sunday, 15th July 2012, there was a viewing on Monday, 23rd July, for family and friends. We were able to take photos at the viewing.
The funeral service took place on Tuesday, 24th July, 12,30 pm, at
ROOKWOOD GARDENS CREMATORIUM, SOUTH CHAPEL.
The officiating celebrant was Michael Bourke. Michael lives in our area and came to visit us on Saturday, 21st July, to discuss with us the order of service.
Bernie, our funeral director in Sydney, organized the viewing at the funeral parlor. Daughter Caroline and Matthew had made first contacts with Bernie. Caroline took time off work that week, Matthew went back to work and also filled in for Caroline a bit. Son Martin took time off work too. He arrived from Melbourne in a hired car late on Wednesday, 18th July.
Martin drove daughters Caroline and Monika as well as Peter and myself to the funeral directors in Sydney on Thursday, 19th July, to make arrangements for the funeral. (Monika had taken time off work too.) Peter had that same day an appointment with an officer at Merrylands police station. After the consultation with Bernie for all the funeral arrangements we were on our way to Merrylands. The traffic turned out to be extremely slow moving because of an incident. So we were late getting to Merrylands. The police were very understanding. The interview with the police took about two hours. They wanted to know a lot about Gaby’s life.
By the way, on the day of Gaby’s departure Caroline and Matthew had driven us first to Merrylands West to Gaby’s house where we had a chance to talk to all the distressed carers including David. Later in the day Matthew drove us to Glebe. He had arranged that we could view Gaby’s body there at the morgue. The visit was very good for us. It gave us a chance to say properly good-bye to Gaby. A very understanding woman greeted us very respectfully. She made arrangements with Caroline to talk to her on the phone on our behalf whenever we had any questions. Caroline stayed with us at our place and was constantly doing all the necessary phone-calls for us. It was such a relief for us that she could do this. She was great in handling all the calls.
On Sunday, the 15th, when we were at Gaby’s house for an hour or so, we took some of Gaby’s photo albums along and also her computer, her digital camera and her mobile phone. The following day the police asked Peter to bring all these electronic items of Gaby’s to the next police station. At present these items are still in the hands of the police for further checking and investigation.
Early on Wednesday morning, 18th July, Ryan and Ebony had a baby boy. They called him Lucas. Ryan is one of Monika’s twins. So Monika is now a grandma. And Peter and I are great grandparents again! Our son Martin has already two grandchildren. So the family is growing. Caroline drove Peter and me to Wollongong hospital to see the new born baby boy. He was surrounded by his Mum and Dad and a number of aunties. We were all allowed to hold him. The baby was most of the time asleep and didn’t mind at all being passed from one to the other. It was a very joyous experience for all of us.
The shirt on Gaby’s coffin is signed by all the ‘Eels’, the Parramatta Rugby players.Peter and I with all our children on the day of the viewing
Uta and DavidCaroline
Peter and Uta with some of the carers
Martin at the viewing
Bernie at the funeral directors’ office
Bernie gave us ample time for the viewing. It started at 3 PM and we were allowed to stay there till 6 PM. People could help themselves to cups of tea. There were also some chocolates on offer.
I took a photo of the chocolates because they reminded Monika of some chocolates Gaby used to have when they were children
From 11,30 on people arrived at Rookwood Memorial Gardens on the day of the funeral service. The Pall Bearers were our son Martin, Monika’s partner Mark, Monika’s twins, Troy and Ryan, Carolines’s partner Matthew and Gaby’s friend Steve. Welcome by Michael Bourke, Celebrant: Tributes by Peter, Soloist Elice Craig, and a choir of carers and friends singing Amazing Grace. Next a Photographic tribute with images of Gaby: Her life, her family, her friends.
Prayers: One Hail Mary. Verse: Michael Bourke and Committal.
The South Chapel of Roodwood Gardens Crematorium
Four of the Pall BearersCaroline and Michael BourkeSteve had brought Dave to the service. Dave decided he didn’t want to go inside. He preferred to stay in the car.
After the service the celebrations of Gaby’s life were to continue at Parramatta Leagues Club. We stayed there for a while for drinks and to talk to people. Some nice pizza was available too.
Entrance to Parramatta Leagues ClubMiriam with an ‘Eels’ Shawl. Miriam used to be Gaby’s cook.Still want to include this picture of Gaby’s coffin inside the South ChapelMonika looked after ‘Honey’ and took her inside the chapel for the service.This is when the funeral car arrived at the Crematorium
Caroline, with some input from Matthew, did a tremendous amount of work in assembling the photos for the photographic tribute. She also organized the printing of the cards for the funeral service. Caroline stayed with Peter and me from the 15th of July until the day of the funeral. Martin stayed with us for one whole week too, and for part of the time Matthew stayed also with us. Recently Caroline stayed with us once more for a few days to sort out things and to give us some support. We’ve been driving with Caroline to some beautiful places here in our area. A lot of these places remind us of Gaby, of course. In our home we constantly find things that remind us of Gaby. Gaby had been a very demanding person, but also very loving and caring. She made sure that we’ll never forget her.
This is the family who saw us off at Berlin Tegel Airport
We were grateful for the long break at Kuala Lumpur Airport. It gave us ample time to recover a bit from the previous eleven hour non-stop flight. In Kuala Lumpur Peter even enjoyed the coffee and cake we had at one of the airport’s coffee-shops. At some other establishment we had a large glass of iced Chi tea. This tasted very good and was very refreshing. On the next seven hour stretch to Sydney Peter refused food again. However he had lots of drinks all the time: Mainly water, but also some juice and coffee. He just didn’t feel like eating.
AuntyUta 