Matthias' Taxi Company

My Uncle Matthias and his wife Anne run a busy taxi company in Kiel metro area. Every time we needed a ride somewhere, it was one of their cars. Business is good, but that also means they are always being called up for a problem with one of their 70 cars or drivers.

I think Tyler and Rami will appreciate this panorama of the Mercedes lot. Me and Pop aren't even into cars that much, but we still enjoyed picking out the one we wanted...

With the other kids gone, it was time to rearrange the cars for our next outing, a vacation within a vacation, to the island of Rügen...

The Kids Say Goodbye

Alas, it is time for Tyler, Maia, Nina & Rami to go back to America and back to work. One last schnapps, a few more stories and pictures, and then the girls kiss their Oma goodbye... probably for five more years.

Wiedersehen!

Andreas' Boat

An old friend of Martin's, Andreas, invited us out to his old sailboat on Kieler Hafen. It was quite beautiful to look at... and breathe in. The hull is original wood from the 1880's, which makes his one of the oldest boats still afloat in Kiel. Andreas takes it out 2-3 times a year, for short pleasure trips with a lady-friend, or for festivals. Andreas has all sorts of weird hobbies, but mainly he's an audiophile. Here we are talking about Zappa in the boat's mahogany cabin...

Disco!

Disco pre-game. What a couple of badasses. Maia, me, Pacino, Tyler and cousin Aaron before heading out to Kiel's nightlife district. No one shows up to the clubs until about 1 am. It's a long pre-game. We are drinking jack and cokes in Aaron's flat.

Ease, Kiel's best place for house music. They could have just plugged in Tyler's phone!

My brother is up on his house music.

Dinner at Bärbel's

Max's wife Bärbel was kind enough to invite us all over to Fresendorf again for dinner. No doubt inspired by discussions with my mom, she cooked all-vegan for 12 people. Gut gemacht Bärbel, now have a drink!

Her son, Aaron (far left), has come in from Kiel to drive us to disco after dinner!

Kaffee und Kuchen with Dad's Old Flame

Martin's old girlfriend brought a cake and her husband to tea.
They met on an exchange year when they were both 16.

Lunch... more fish!

For lunch one day Matthias and Anne brought home two special fish sauces. The yellow one is shrimp in a mild curry with dill, the purple one is herring in beet juice and vinegar. On a fresh sesame roll from across the street. Just seeing this photo makes my mouth water again. I got really into fish. Tyler is on board too.

Happy Martin

Breakfast Brötchen

A typical breakfast in Oma's house. Brötchen (sesam) with assorted marmalades, an egg, and tea or coffee.

End of Part III

Go to Part IV...

Teufelsberg

Among the lesser-known-but-still-cool places recommended to us by Helen, there was Teufelsberg, an abandoned American spy-station built at the beginning of the Cold War. We took the car west out of town and made a hike up to it. Unfortunately, they can't just let people climb over this thing because it is in bad disrepair and apparently there is leftover radioactive junk. So they only open the gate for a couple hours on weekends for chaperoned tours. We made the most of it though: walked around the double-fenced perimeter and found a knoll farther away to get a view of the tower and a great panorama of West Berlin.

It's getting dark, no more pictures... time to say goodbye to Berlin!

Mustache of Ivy

This poor fellow doesn't look comfortable with the encroachment of the climbing plants.

Berlin Zu Fuß

We set off on foot to see Berlin in a day. In addition to Checkpoint Charlie, we managed to visit Brandenburger Tor, the Tiergarten, the Holocaust Denkmal, the Reichstag Building, and an art gallery.

Brandenburger Tor.
There was a guy here stamping your postcards with the official date you passed from east to west Germany.

A statue in the Tiergarten to the memory of Mozart, Beethoven, and Handel (on the other side).
The Jewish Holocaust Memorial is a square block full of these stone obelisks which are perfect for hopping over, but which you are not allowed to hop over.

Didn't want to pay the eight euros to go inside, so had a look around the glass perimeter instead.

Berlin Wall

The next rainy morning, we started our tour of Berlin with Checkpoint Charlie and Die Mauer (the Wall).

Officer Pepperspray

Maia livememes in Berlin.

Urban Spree Art Show

After dinner, Helen took us to a dirty underground art show in what appeared to be an old Socialist warehouse. The artists had taken over the premises, grafitti'd it up, and made a livable commune out of it. We saw some interesting line drawings, met some interesting people, inhaled some interesting smoke, and stared at a giant nite-brite mural that seemed to dance to the house music.

Helen Choi

That night in Berlin, we met my old friend from New York, Helen Choi. She happened to be working at Polynoid, so I got to take a look at one of my favorite CG studios while I was at it. Here we are at a Vietnamese restaurant in überhip Kreuzberg neighborhood.

Photo by Tyler

Maia in Front of Grafitti

Maia Not Caring About Stuff Behind Her

 Here is Maia indifferent to the Alexanderplatz Fernseh Turm and the ersatz-Oktoberfest around her.

Here she is nonchalantly dismissing the Berliner Dom. Oh wait! She seems to enjoy this one.

The fact we can't find a picture of the Berlin skyline without at least 5 construction cranes is pretty funny.

Drive to Berlin

Fahrvergnügen (Although this is a Mercedes)! Tyler, Maia and I took a trip to Berlin for 2 days and a night. Tyler drove and we bopped to his house music mix the whole way. If you can't see the speedometer, it says 127 MPH... yes, you can convert the car's computer to Imperial units. Matthias lent us one of his taxis, so it has a fare counter on the rearview mirror. Good thing we didn't have to pay the fare: it would have been something like 1300 Euros for this trip.

Our first sight of Berlin's Alexanderplatz from the road. We stayed right around here.

Tyler gets us safely to Hotel Mercure in Berlin, Mitte.

Bikeride to Fresendorf

Tyler, Maia, Uncle Matthias and I took the bikes out im Land for a ride to Fresendorf. Oh yes, Jule was alongside us the whole way too! Great dog. On the way we saw this big ol' country manor that no one wants to pay to keep up, a charming pastoral church in Giekau, and the Selenter See (lake).

Whew, Made it! Surprise Max, your extended family is here.

Time for Kaffee and Kuchen!

Vegans at Veganz

Veganz is an all-vegan supermarket chain in Hamburg and Berlin. Here, Maia has found a whole endcap full of Nutella replacements. Joy! We finished off our day in Hamburg with an excellent meal here.

Miniatur Wunderland!

The main attraction in Hamburg for me was the Miniatur Wunderland, the world's most extensive model railway. There are three floors and 7 different themed worlds, including Switzerland, Hamburg itself, and America. But with the addition of a working model airport, hundreds of little computer controlled cars and trucks with working lights, a cruise ship, and even a space shuttle, it has grown into something beyond just trains. And they're planning on adding Italy and Africa in the coming years!
I loved it! To say "great attention to detail" seems an understatement. Attention to their attention to detail is the whole attraction. The best part was the little tableaux you would happen upon if you looked close enough and cared to piece the story together. So much fun.