KIM_BY_FASHION IN VLAARDINGEN HOME OF ITALIAN, FRENCH, AND GERMAN FASHION

Berlin

an experience to visit Berlin.

I never thought that my married life will include regular travels and vacations. My husband is a Dutchman and Dutch people has many vacations the whole year round. And for this week, we will spend our weekend in Hoenderloo. I am saving this for my blog this weekend. We were in Hoenderloo on summer last year, and now we are going to Hoenderloo to say "goodbye summer for now." Autumn is almost here.

Yesterday, I wrote about Gartz Oder in Germany. Now, I like to write about Berlin. Because from Gartz, we visited Berlin before we headed back home. The distance from Gartz to Berlin is nearly 145 kilometers, an hour and a half travel by car. We did not stay there overnight, we just spend a day for sight seeing.

approaching Berlin on a stormy day.

travel buddies when our son was still a baby :)

family picture in Berlin

reaching Berlin without combing my hair for two days hahaha!

It was a stormy day when we left Gartz, thankful that when we arrived in Berlin, it was dry although very cold and windy. My husband drives the car around Berlin for me to see interesting places or building. I noticed that there are so many taxis in Berlin, and those taxis are all Mercedes Benz! Bumper to bumper!

We stopped when we want to make some photos, then go again. My husband who was not feeling well that day, most of the times just stayed in the car with our son and I go around alone, making photos but not many photos.

traffic 

one of the places to see in Berlin.

If Gartz is a quiet place and like a ghost town, Berlin is crowded and a very busy city. I have seen Berlin many times on National Geographic Tv, how this city became Hitler's city back then. I read about the fall of the Berlin Wall. I saw some movies that the location is in Berlin. It is a different feeling to see Berlin myself.

the double decker city tour bus.

it is now of my my best family memories.

I want to go back to Berlin. I like to make more nice photos of Berlin and to visit some museums. Berlin has a very tragic past, but it is not getting up, but you can still see things that are remnants of the holocaust. When I saw them, I have felt that Berlin is not yet done of recuperating.

At Gartz Oder, Germany

Springtime at Gartz Oder, Germany

There are days in our life that left a deep mark in our hearts. Days of enjoyment, or learning an important lesson, or just a day that you feel you are on your own. This blog is recalling of my in Gartz Oder, Germany. I love to share photos as well as my story when we stayed there.

Pension Am Silberberg

my husband.

the view outside our room at Pension Am Silberberg.

I love this lamp in our room.

It was a working trip of my husband to a neighboring town, I think it was in Schwidt. He took me along also our son. My husband's company booked us in Pension Am Silberberg, a beautiful pension house in Gartz Oder, in the middle of a small and scenic village.

In late afternoon, the town look like a ghost town.

crossroad.

the bus stop.

The neighborhood.

Gartz Oder is a small town in the Uckermark, a district in Brandenburg, Germany. From Gartz Oder is approximately 20 kilometers and you will already in Poland. The border is the Oder River on the West bank, we crossed the bridge with the car and we enter Szczecin (Stettin), Poland.

the narrow winding road to Poland.

in Gartz and saying, hello Poland!

at the back is the bridge that connects Poland and Gartz Oder, Germany.

my husband and my son, we have dinner at Jagerhof, Schwedt. 

Gartz is now a border town. I spend our few days there just walking around the town with my son. In late afternoon, the town looks like a ghost town. There are many pension houses in Gartz because the surrounding towns are industrial. I digged my files and will share photos with you. 

Visiting Cologne, Germany

If you ever come to Europe, which historical or famous cities would you wish to visit? London, Berlin, Paris? I know many historical cities in Europe, but honestly, I never dreamed of seeing them when I was young. I have a happy life with my family in The Philippines and I enjoyed visiting places through reading books.

My son was almost eight months old when we visited Berlin and I love to go back there and explore more the city where Adolf Hitler found haven but also the city where his dictatorship ended.

Travel Time: Gartz to Poland to Berlin

Entering Gartz (Oder), Germany

Frankfurt (Oder) (German pronunciation: [ˈfʁaŋkfʊɐt]) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, located on the Oder River, on the German-Polishborder directly opposite the town of Słubice which was part of Frankfurt until 1945. At the end of the 1980s it reached a population peak with more than 87,000 inhabitants. The number dropped below 70,000 in 2002 and was just above 60,000 in 2010.^{[2] -WIKIPEDIA} 

My husband's work requires him to travel all over Europe. Sometimes I feel like I am married to a pilot. There are times that he needs to fly three times a week for his assignments. I am getting used to it now. It was May last year when their company assigned him in Gartz, Germany. I am glad when he told me that he will ask their company if he can take me and Burt there. I am thankful, their company granted his request. Burt was eight months old that time. Their company arranged the hotel where we are going to stay. We traveled by car.

Pension Am Zilberberg, where we stayed

                                                                                                                                                                         

It was nearly nine hour drive. I enjoyed sight seeing along the European Highway. We stop for coffee, to eat, to pee, and to change diapers. It stays in my memory, when we stopped and my husband spread a blanket on the grass and he let Burt played there for a while. 

The view along the way was just breathtaking. From the road, I can see the roofs of the houses down the valley. The colors of the hills change as we go along. Sometimes they are green, sometimes they are color wheat, but since it was spring time, we were surrounded by the color yellow. 

We were almost in Gartz before sunset, our last stop was in a gas station. I stepped out from the car, and I get a few minutes to make photos of the beautiful farm. It is all yellow! Finally, we arrived in Gartz. The owner of the Pension House, where we stay welcome us. The place is peaceful and very quiet. The house is old fashion, inviting, looks restful. 

We stayed in Pension Am Zilberberg. We have wifi and free breakfast. They don't dish up lunch and dinner. Our first dinner was a take out from McDonald's. The following day, my husband took me and Burt to Schwedt to have dinner there, 20km away from Gartz.

Starter at Jagerhof 

Jagerhof is an old restaurant in Schwedt. Its structure is old but classy. They serve fast, the food is delightful, very German, affordable.

My husband and son in front of Jagerhof

Just sad, my husband got sick the day we arrived in Gartz. Even he is sick, he managed to push through to finish his work and in the afternoon to tour me and Burt around the town. We were also able to a have a short visit to Poland. Have made some photographs there and watched the Polish sunset. It was an experience of a lifetime. 

Hello, Poland!

We have our last complimentary breakfast. The owner of the pension house was there, she bids goodbye to us and wishing us a safe travel back home. She does not speak English but she is very warm to me, motherly. She reminds me of the character of Marina at Anne of the Green Gables.

Family picture in Berlin

On our way back home, we went first in Berlin.

One of the photos I made in Berlin

I do not expect that I can also see this very historical place. It was a really cold day, raining, and my husband is sick. In a very quiet town of Gartz, I have seen the difference between Germany and Poland. From Gartz all the way to Berlin, I have seen the difference between the two. If Gartz is like a ghost town, Berlin is very crowded. You can see many reminders that it is a remnant of the Second World War. So many tourists and I can see many jaywalkers. 

As I think of those days, I keep the memories in my jar of my fondest memories. Every now and then, I open it and happily recalling our family moments. In such a short period of time, I was able to see and visit beautiful places. As what I posted on my Facebook that time, it is an experience to see beautiful places in the world. Places that before, I see only in the movies, in the books, and in the cross-stitch.