Friday 31 October 2014

Hummingbird Hawkmoth, and no apology

 
Last day of October, the eve of All Hallowed Saints Day, we were sat in the warm sun with a well - earned cup of coffee this morning when these clouds took my eye, like Jellyfish in the sky
 
 
Lucky for me, because I dived indoors and found my camera for a picture. So it was that when this very late-flying Hummingbird Hawkmoth appeared, feeding on the Verbena bodensii, I was able to get some photos, thanking my lucky stars the recent bad weather and other commitments had stopped us from clearing them up
 
 
Lucky, too, that the light was good and a fast shutter speed was possible



 
Although I struggled with the accursed auto-focus, eventually it got it's brain in gear, et Voilá

 
 
 
 
 
No apology for several photos, I'm almost proud of these
 
 
 
 
 

Monday 27 October 2014

A short visit to Berlin

 
 Uploading picture files onto here is a doddle these days. Some time ago I was in despair at the time taken to put pictures on this blog. Sometimes it was impossible. Then, I called the company which provides t'internet access for me to complain. Then, a man came from BT and put in a new phone connection from the pole in my neighbours garden, and my account was moved to a new set-up. Blimey it took just over a minute to squirt these 27 pictures up the line
 
Philip and I went off to Berlin for a few days last week, to have a look-see, and try out our German. It was a good trip although the weather let us down badly. We flew Squeezy Jet and headed for town on the train from the airport, having bought a 3 day Berlin Welcome Card which gave us unlimited travel, and discounts at lots of places. This panel on the train couldn't be clearer, but please note that in Germany not all trains run to time. It's 12.55, the train was due at 12.53 and we're still a minute off
 
 
The Hotel Pension Kastanienhof was good, very welcoming and in a good quiet street not far from a surviving section of the wall, which we checked out that afternoon. This was the East side, from which many tried to escape

 
and this is the "no man's land" escapers needed to cross without being shot. It seems the space was completely clear then


During our walk we came across this little gem, complete with Carlos Fandango super wide wheels, a real memory jerker for Grandad, much to Philips amusement, tho' he did like the car

 
This is a typical street thereabouts, and young Philip noted that it was all very forbidding and austere looking, a sentiment I agreed with, even without the rain the architecture wasn't exactly light


One of our "must do's" was the Fernsehturm, but not, we thought, in weather like this. That ball towards the top is a restaurant and viewing gallery. Oh well, maybe tomorrow


We were amused by this Art Gallery, made of a stack of shipping containers. Imagine what UK planners and nimby's would make of that!

 
Graffiti and murals were everywhere too, this was one of the better ones we found

 
It was on our way to the German Technology Museum,  superbly brilliant place, with a DC3 Dakota from the Berlin Airlift days parked on the roof. http://sdtb.de/Home.623.0.html  is the website for it



Inside we were fascinated by, among other exhibits, some reconstructions of early computers dating back to the mid - 1940's, worked on by Konrad Zuse. If only he and Alan Turing could have worked together. This is an early electro-mechanical device with about 6 trillion miles of wire to make it work
 
On the 3rd and 4th floors were real aeroplanes, including this MIG 15, an A A gun and, in the background, the remains of a crashed Lancaster bomber recovered from a lake

 
Philip was fascinated by it all, especially this lump of moon rock


Part of the museum complex is railway related in an old engine shed, or Lokschuppen, where blowing down was forbidden, according to this sign and my dictionary

 
Back out in the rain, here comes our underground train, becoming and overground train. We were glad it wasn't Henry from Thomas the Tank Engine (You remember, he's the one who stayed in the tunnel 'cos it was raining)

 
We also took in Checkpoint Charlie, a complete tourist trap. There was, however, a very evocative display of pictures and stories about the wall, including some quite harrowing scenes of would-be escapers being shot. Even though the wall came down 9 years before Philip was born, he'd heard enough about it to be interested

 
Sat in a nearby café enjoying Kaffe and Kuchen, or Diet Coke in Philip's case, this group of Trabants came by, leaving a nice blue fug behind as the lights went to green and they puttered off


 
Later we went to see the Currywurst Museum, advertised by this contraption


That afternoon was the only time the very top of the TV tower was out of the cloud. Fine weather was forecast for next day so we didn't go up then, doh! Should have known better

 
When we eventually did go up the tower, the ground was only just visible, but as it was the last morning we had little alternative. We were there at opening time and enjoyed a smashing breakfast while going round in the rotating restaurant, at 1 circuit an hour, which we managed.
 
 
 
He looks as though he's enjoying it, too
 
 
The Brandenburg gate had to be visited, and the resident Hooded Crows photographed

 

 
Best visit was to the Aquarium down by the zoo, where Philip spent ages trying to get a selfie with these huge Amazonian fish about to eat him

 
I can honestly say that Currywurst is not for me, but Philip enjoyed his very much. In this café the Wurst was chopped up and covered in Tomato Ketchup with a Chilli powder dusted over. You can also take it in a bread roll, if you must

 
Finally, on the way back to the airport, we looked out for and photographed this different apartment block first seen on the way in. As you can see the façade and windows are at an angle but the window styles are horizontal, must be weird to live in and look out of
 
Can't resist showing you the 4th batch of Father Christmasses made to sell at the village shop to raise cash for the Xmas lights - I decided to make some little helpers this time, too. They're selling well apparently - an idea bought back from another Germany Trip - to Trier a couple of years ago  (See blog for 17/12/2012)
 
The New Moon was a bit special this evening, I did remember to turn over the few pence I had in my pocket