Impressions of Münster

Dear friends, a week has passed since my last blog entry. And a busy week it was! Daniel started teaching again yesterday (bye-bye summer break!) and there was just a lot to do.

And I have to admit that I find the task of showing your vacation photos very daunting as our trusty photographer, aka Daniel, shot hundreds of great pictures. So it's up to me to pick and choose a few to show you.

For today an impression of my home town of Münster. These are just a few photos from our first day back in Germany. As you can see, the weather was gorgeous!! Enjoy!

Of course we went to the market as well, but I'll show you those photos in a different post!

I hope you all had a great start to your week!

❧ Silke

Travel Day

You may have been wondering why I've been so quiet on your blogs. It's because I've been busy getting us ready for a few weeks in Europe visiting family and friends!

The amazing farmers market in front of the cathedral
in my home town of Münster.
Can't wait to be there in person!!
Photo courtesy of my dad! :)

And I had to get the house ready for our friend who will move in and take care of our many critters and the garden. There was much to do, but today we are on our way!!

Wishing you an amazing day! Thinking of you while we are in flight from one continent to another...

P.S. I have a number of posts prescheduled to publish while I am gone, and might intersperse those with posts and photos from our trip as I have time to do so!

❧ Silke

Magdeburg

On our drive back from Berlin, my dad and I stopped in Magdeburg, which turned out to be a beautiful day. 

I have to admit that neither one of us really had any idea of what we'd find in Magdeburg or even the historical significance of this town. You can read more about it here, which is well worth it!

Our first stop was at the magnificent cathedral.

Emperor Otto I, who founded the Holy Roman Empire, is buried here. You can read more about him by clicking here.

There were some wonderfully bizarre carvings on the choir benches.

I just love gargoyles!

Magdeburg is situated on the River Elbe and of course we had to take a look.

And here is what turned out to be my favorite part of Magdeburg - The Green Citadel, an architectural creation by the Viennese artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. 

Even though the house was built after Hundertwasser's death in 2000, he had just about completed the plans for this very fun building before he died.

It just made me happy!

Even the bathrooms were amazing. My dad took a few pictures.

I never thought I'd show a picture of urinals, but can you believe the aquarium?!

We ate lunch in the inner courtyard.

I couldn't get over the colors and the forms and how nothing was square, yet everything quite functional.

A great place to relax!

And a couple of other gorgeous buildings around the downtown. There's much we didn't see - maybe we'll go back when Daniel comes with me to Germany next time!

When I asked Daniel if he knew of Magdeburg, he said that he drove there to do some research (he was studying medieval european art history at the time) in the cathedral before the reunification. I had completely forgotten about that. He had to get special permission to drive there and spend time in the cathedral. His experience sounded like a completely different one - not as nice, but just as interesting. It'll be fun for him to see what it's like now!

❧ Silke

Impressions from Berlin

The Wannsee

Happy 1. of October! Can you believe it?! Excuse me ~ where has September gone?!

The Max Liebermann Villa

Before we get deep into the Holiday Season, I thought I'd show you some more pictures from my recent trip to Germany.  If I wait any longer, they'll be old news...

My dad and I drove to Berlin for a couple of days of sightseeing there. It had been a few years since I had been there and it was every bit as beautiful as I remembered.

It amazes me how a big city can have such large areas of nature, woods and lakes.

My dad has friends who live in Berlin and they are always the best tour guides.

We saw amazing art exhibits, beautiful buildings, ate great food and enjoyed everything with sunshine and blue skies.

Holocaust Memorial

Käthe Kollwitz statue in the Neue Wache Building

Humboldt University

Daniel and I had been to both West and East Berlin several times before the wall came down. When you are in this modern and bustling city now, it is strange to remember what it was like before.

I. M. Pei's extension of the German Historical Museum

Berlin Cathedral

 The cathedral had been under construction last time we visited.

Inside the "New Museum", which houses the famous and beautiful bust of Queen Nefertiti. 

Old ruins were incorporated into the modern structure.

The New Museum fascinated me in that the ruins that were left after it was badly damaged during WWII were preserved and integrated into the modern structure.

It was beautiful!

Inside the Cathedral

The "Old Museum"

This was the view from on top of the Humboldt Box, which is worth reading about here.

A model of the center of Berlin in 1900 inside the Humboldt Box.

On the way home, we stopped in Magdeburg, which was such a surprise to both of us. I'll share pictures from that day in another post!

On the home front, Daniel is trying hard to get over a very persistent respiratory virus and I am deep into my paints again. I'm painting something completely different for me. It has me so excited that I've been having trouble going to sleep at night because I keep thinking about it. That is the good kind of insomnia...

And as soon as I post this, I am off to my studio again. We are having dreary days. I wish I could say cool and fall-like, but we are expecting a humid 87℉ or 30℃again today. A perfect day to play with paints!

Wishing you a most wonderful start to your week!

❧ Silke