Friday, February 18, 2011

Week in review...

A lot has happened. Monday was Valentines and it made me miss my boyfriend more than ever. I went into town, forgetting that it was valentines and saw all these cute couples. I think being away from the one you love on valentines might be worse than being single.

Anyway, enough with the mush gushy stuff. I went into town and explored.

Potsdam has a Dutch quarter that I just love. It's such a cute little part of the town. The buildings are mostly brick and the details are wonderful. I shopped around then treated myself to a Starbucks, sitting by the window so I could people watch. After a day out and about, I took the train back.

Tuesday the ankle was giving me real problems, so I didn't do much. I think over working it the day before, it just needed some down time. I kept ice on it and kept it elevated. 

Wednesday I was ready to go again! I wanted to go to the film museum in Potsdam. The museum was gorgeous, but almost all the architecture in Germany is, so I shouldn't have been surprised. 


Inside was interesting. I was given a little book in English so I could understand the exhibits. I watched some clips of German films, saw what they did throughout history and had a look at how the equipment that has evolved. 





After the museum I went exploring. Potsdam isn't too big so if you know one or two landmarks you can get around fairly easily. I came back to the house to warm up a little and grab a bite, then I was off again. This time I went to the Glienicke bridge museum. Over the weekend I had gone to the bridge to explore but didn't visit the museum, so I thought it would be a good time to learn about it since I still had daylight.




Yesterday was great. I got up and immediately got ready for the day.  I left the house around 10:30 and walked into town. It was pretty nice out but still chilly. I took the back way that Gina showed me, where I walked by the cute little lake I love. Once in town I went to the big church where on one side there was a war memorial and the other was a little market. It was so pretty.






After wandering around the little park and market, I checked out some shops and grabbed a really yummy breakfast bun from a bakery. There were so many little streets to explore. 


By the time I was ready to head back, the sun was beginning to set and it was getting really cold. It was a great day of exploring Potsdam. 

Monday, February 14, 2011

The weekend...

This was the first weekend I didn't do too much. Because of the ankle injury, I have been really cautious about what I do and how much I walk. I have done a lot of research about this injury because I have never heard of "ruptured" ligaments just torn. It is basically the same thing but all information I have found says you need to take real care of it so the ligaments can heal correctly, if not it could cause long time damage.

Ok so enough about the ankle, you can tell I'm a worrywart.

Friday I took it easy. Didn't do much of anything but Gina and I baked three different things. The first was a chocolate cake-- I think we ate more of the batter than the finished cake-- then we made cornflakes covered in chocolate, a real yummy treat. Last was this thing called an Amerikaner, I don't know why because I have never had one but it was good too!



Saturday we went to Einstein's house. It was his summer house in a place called, Caputh. It was cute little village that we had to take a car ferry to get to.















After visiting Caputh, we went to the Allied Museum in Berlin. It had so much history behind it. Half of the museum was in an old movie theater for U.S. soldiers. It showed what it was like during the war and how other countries like America and Britain helped Germany during the stressful times.




U.S. soldiers would fly in food and other supplies needed during the Cold War.


It was very interesting, learning the history and what happened during that time. There was even a piece of the Berlin Wall. 


"Construction began on The Berlin Wall early in the morning of Sunday, August 13, 1961. It was a desperate – and effective - move by the GDR (German Democratic Republic) to stop East Berliners escaping from the Soviet-controlled East German state into the West of the city, which was then occupied by the Americans, British and French. "-berlin-life.com


Sunday it was snowy and cold. I took a walk down to the Gleinicker Bridge, where it separated the the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. The border ran through the middle of the bridge, that's why it is two different color greens. 







It was freezing out so I grabbed a hot chocolate in the museum. I didn't look in the museum, I figured I would save that for another day because my ankle was throbbing and I couldn't feel my toes. So I relaxed in the cafe and warmed up before walking back. 


It was a nice, quiet weekend. I only have two more weekends in Germany so I am hoping to heal quickly so I can go out and explore. Maybe, even experience the night life! :) 

Hoping everyone has a wonderful Valentines day. X Glücklicher Valentinstag!❤



Friday, February 11, 2011

Magnifico!

Tuesday after the doctor, Sylvio and I were off to Munich for the premiere of Magnifico.

He showed me just a little bit of the city as I could not walk too much. We did however stop by the Mayor's house.... wow, it was a amazing.


Munich is gorgeous. Hopefully in a week or two we will be making it back up that way. 




The Magnifico premiere was amazing. There was a red carpet and hundreds of talented individuals that attended. Paparazzi were taking pictures and the fashions were unique. Some looked like a million bucks. 

The show was two hours with a break in the middle. It had everything from horses with lights to break dancing. There were acrobatics and contortionists, yodeling and flamenco dancing. It was a one of a kind show that had something for everyone. It was MAGNIFICO!

PATIENCE









This is a video of the break dancing. It as absolutely amazing. One of my favorite performances by far. 





The whole experience was unforgettable. The show is a definite success and is touring throughout Europe. We had to leave that night to get back in time for Sylvio to pick up his wife from the airport the next morning. We left Munich around 11 p.m. Taking the autobahn, going about 220km the whole way, it took us about 4 hours to get home.

Wednesday I slept the day away because my foot was in so much pain and I had a rough nights sleep.

 I want to relax my foot as much as possible now so hopefully by the middle of next week it will be better. The bruising will be gone, hopefully, so the aircast won't rub against the sensitive area.

Yesterday Nana, Sylvio's wife, took me on a driving tour around Potsdam to show me places to go when my ankle heals. I didn't realize how much Potsdam has to offer but there are about 7 different castles walking distacne from their house. There is one castle in a park that will take up the whole day. I can't wait to go. It's about a 30 minute walk from the house and has gardens, cafes, and gorgeous scenery.


We then went to another castle, the Cecilienhof Palace, where the Potsdam agreement was drawn up.

There was so much history there. We went on a guided tour to learn more but I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside. 



We wandered around and then headed back for a quiet night in.

 There is so much history in Potsdam. It will take me a good week to explore just this area let alone going back into Berlin. Hoping for the ankle to heal fast or at least give me less pain, so I can explore more soon!

X