8 August 2010

Yoohoo! I'm Back! (Part 1)

Hey there!

How are you all?

Well, 2000 miles, 3 countries, 5 different hotels and 350 photos later, we're back!  Tee hee, don't worry, I've not included them all; I've diarised our trip using just a few of my favourites!

The journey ...


We took a train to St Pancras, the Eurostar to Brussels and then hired a car.

We spent a day in Berlin which, frankly, isn't anywhere near long enough to visit all the landmarks.  As our hotel was situated in the Tiergarten area (German for 'animal garden'), our first stop was only a short walk away - Berlin Zoo, which is one of the most popular in the world ...

(Tiergarten)



Berlin is a fascinating city.  If you get the chance to go, do take it.  It is steeped in history, particularly 20th century, and you can't help but get swept up by it all.  Our whistle-stop visit included the Reichstag, the German parliamentary building ...


The Brandenburg Gate ...

(The first picture shows the Brandenburg Gate in 1989 with East German soldiers on the Berlin Wall.)

(Poignant memorial to those who lost their lives attempting to climb over the Berlin Wall.)

Next stop was Poland, or Wloclawek to be precise.  The reason for our trip, of course, was to attend my little brother's wedding to his Polish girlfriend.  The general standard of living seems very low in the parts of Poland we saw.  The buildings look neglected, people tend to live in ugly high rise apartments and most of the roads are in a terrible condition.  We must have passed a dozen 'ladies of the night' sitting, smoking at the roadsides in broad daylight!  I think there is a lot of EU funding money being spent on the main road network though as we got held up in so many roadworks.

(These pictures were all taken within a stone's throw of our hotel.)

There were pockets of prettiness though and our destination, the Hotel Aleksander, was one ...


The wedding was simply gorgeous.  There were about 50 guests (mostly English).  It was a short Catholic service followed by a reception at the hotel.

The whole thing was wonderful but quite emotional; the newlyweds are emigrating to Australia this week. :-(

My brother is ten years younger than me; he is the youngest of the four of us and I am the eldest.  He's always been a baby to me and I shall miss him terribly.

(Me with my 'little' brother, the groom!)

(My lovely little family.)

Blogger is not letting me load any more photos, maybe it has reached saturation point!  I shall continue in another post ... x

8 comments:

  1. Lovely pics, Heather. You have indeed got a lovely, gorgeous family, you lucky thing. Glad you had a great time. Lynda xx

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  2. What a great trip you've had, and you all looked lovely at your brothers wedding, thanks for sharing.
    My husbands mother came from Berlin and the stories she used to tell before she died were amazing. One day her father went to work and the wall was put up and he could never return to his wife and children (my mother-in-law, Adit)...can you imagine as a wife and mother what that would have been like? The really sad thing was that he died the day before the wall came down so never got to go 'home'.
    I know that feeling with regards to your brother. My sister emigrated to NZ a few years ago and was intending to be there 3-4 years at least....it was a real sense of loss and the goodbyes were horrid. Luckily for me she didn't settle and returned a year later...so you never know!
    Great to have you back.
    Jane. x

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  3. I loved the photos!! You are so gifted putting them together so we could see more than just a few!! I love one of the hotels you stayed at! Your brother is handsome and your family is beautiful!!!

    So much fun!

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  4. Love your outfit! Interesting photos. x

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  5. Good to have you back! Pictures look lovely. I'll drop by again for more photos.
    Jille x

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  6. What lovely photo's - looking forward to seeing more!
    x

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  7. Such fantatsic pictures! You visited some wonderful places. Good to have you back though!

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  8. Your pictures are great. Welldone in getting them altogether in the groups. I haven't mastered the art yet but will keep trying. Your little girl looks fab in her Cath Kidston, a model in the making.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. Anyone ever told you that you're a peach? xx

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