Budapest Part 2

We just finished up our month long stay in Budapest. We are on to Prague but we will definitely miss Budapest.

Here are some of the highlights of our last 3 weeks in Budapest...

The Parliament Building

A boat ride down the Danube. We did the touristy thing and bought tickets for a night time cruise down the Danube to see Budapest at night. Wow! This is one beautiful city! The Parliament Building is easily the most impressive building I have seen in Europe. It is huge and when lit up at night it is breathtaking.

You can see more of photos I took from the cruise HERE

Hungary National Holiday. March 15 stands for democracy and freedom and it commemorates the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 which grew into a war for independence from Habsburg rule. The freedom bridge is just down the road from where we were staying and there was quite the crowd there. There were speakers and singers and lots of political sign waving.

You can see a short video of the end of the gathering HERE

Stolpersteins. I saw the first ones in East Berlin. Stolpersteins mark the building where these people (mostly Jews but anyone that the Nazis found unacceptable) were forcibly removed from their residences during WWII. This one was just around the corner from where we were staying. If you would like to learn more about Stolpersteins, NPR did a story on them and you can here it HERE  

The Easter Market. This market was incredible! Oh the food! It was food porn at its finest. John and I would just walk around and drool over everything from pork knuckles to pastries to Langos. Wonderful art and crafts also. We went twice and had intended to go back a third time but rain put a halt to that idea.

I have lots more photos from the Easter Market. You can view them HERE  

The Cat Cafe. So the first week we went to The Zoo Cafe. Well there is also a Cat Cafe with just cats, lots of them. John and I sat and drank coffee while trying to get the attention of every cat that walked by. They're cats and being cats, they do as they please. I did get to pet a couple but they just went about their business and pretty much ignored us.

Fisherman's Bastion

The Buda side. One day we hopped on a bus and took a short ride around the Buda side of Budapest. Buda is much more quiet than the Pest side and it is beautiful. We stopped at the Fisherman's Bastion and Matthias Church.

Matthias Church

Again, the buildings in Budapest amaze me. The church was stunning and the view from the Bastion of the Pest side was incredible.












So are just some of the highlights from the last part of our stay. We LOVED Budapest and it was hard to leave such a unique and beautiful city. But leave we did on a train for Prague, Czech Republic. Our adventures in Prague coming up next!

If you would like to see more of my photos from Budapest, just click HERE

Cheers!
Barb

Our First Week in Budapest

John:  We arrived at the Budapest train station in the early afternoon with temperatures feeling like 6 degrees fahrenheit. After taking the subway we exited our train at the Kalvin Square substation and walked up the flight of stairs to a pedestrian square busy with people. At the top of the stairs I saw tall ornate buildings and shiny modern glass buildings surrounding an expansive pedestrian area busy with people. We walked by several restaurants, bars, retail shops and tall buildings to a building with a placard “Vamhaz 15 at the corner so we proceeded looking for number 11.

Our building (yellow)

Our landlord, Judit, a woman in her early 30’s with red hair, hurriedly came from a car double parked, arrived within a couple of minutes. She welcomed us to Budapest and quickly swiped a fob from her key chain next to the keypad by the door and a buzzing sounded immediately. She pushed open the tall heavy door allowing us to enter a short hallway looking into a courtyard. She walked quickly down the hallway and went up two stairs on the right. We met her in front of an open elevator reminiscent of the communist era one we used in Romania. The red metal door opened to two café doors that snapped open when pushed. We all were able to fit in the small elevator and slowly made our way to the 2nd floor. The elevator opened to a small enclosed landing area looking out to the courtyard below. We exited the landing and walked past one door to our apartment and Judit opened it.

The apartment is a 1-bedroom, 1-bath with a kitchen. It was neat and clean. We found some tourist brochures, a map under the sink, a laminated card with the wifi and contact information with house rules. The last rule was to “Enjoy the bottle of local wine on the table as Judit’s way of saying, thank you.” There was no bottle of wine in the apartment and thats probably why she hid the info sheet under the sink. There is no laundry detergent so I am going to buy a box of 22 Tide pods. Since we will have a bunch left over I am going to flavor my tea with them leading up to my Tide Pod Tasting on the last day here.

We familiarized ourselves with the apartment, accessed wifi and set up the bathroom and clothes and excited to venture outside to several places we saw coming in. Barb read about a craft brewery, Monyo Taproom, toward Kelvin Square so we went there. Except for Ireland and a rare occurrence, I had not had much fortune to drink anything but pilsners while on this adventure and satisfied my beer selection to Carling, Carlsburg, Tuborg or any other local brew. The taste difference was incremental and it wasn’t worth the additional cost or disappointment.

Budapest streets

It was a three minute walk to Monyo. It was small place serving their craft beer, wine and mixed drinks. We perused the beer list and I opted for the “Dead Rabbit” IPA, 9.6 ABV, and Barb selected the “Invisible Bikini”, a 5.6 ABV Porter. I typically avoid the higher alcohol content beers because they tend to have an odd flavor resembling a liqueur or brandy but this one got rave reviews. The corner bar was four feet by eight feet constructed of 16 inch diameter posts at ends and corner with a beam on top. The bar stools were tree swings! While it was interesting and cool looking I would be hesitant to sit in one after a couple of 9.6 ABV beers.
The bartender was a guy in his late twenties. I greeted him “Ha(t)-low”. I said I would like a Dead Rabbit and an Invisible Bikini. The two .41 liters glasses of beer were on the counter and he handed me a ticket for 2,100 forints, roughly $6.30. I paid him and received my change with a “cos-zo-nom”-Thank you. He smiled with a similar response.

Barb was talking to a coupe of people and petting their dog “Muffin” and we went to one of the only remaining vacant tables. The patio was enclosed with plastic walls but was a little chilly for us. The beers were delicious so we had another round but I opted for the “Flying Rabbit” IPA, 5.6 ABV.

We left Monyo and headed across the street to “Tao” for some Chinese food. It was cafeteria style and we looked at the half dozen types of chicken, lo mein noodles, rice and vegetables. We both ordered the same things, lo mein, rice and vegetables. We sat at a back table and enjoyed a delicious meal. We packed our left overs in a plastic container and headed back to our apartment. It felt very cold on our short walk back but we were inside our warm apartment in minutes.

We both talked about the good beer, delicious food and exciting atmosphere of the city and the great location of our apartment. We talked for awhile and I asked Barb, “Did you ever think…?”. Her face lit up with her great smile saying, “Nope, not in a million years.

Just having a cup of coffee

Barb:  The Zoo Cafe. When I read about it I really wanted to go. Knowing my love of animals, John was agreeable to it also. We started off with a very colorful lizard type who actually was quite active if not slow. I think he was my favorite.
Then came another lizard that did not really move at all.
The third was a python. Oh dear God. But you know what? He really wasn’t very scary, he was so smooth and soft. He wrapped himself around my wrist which John took as a sign of affection. I’m not quite sure.
Then we had a very cute little guinea pig who was only interested in eating his carrot.
The last was a rabbit. Soft and sweet.

Our new friend

They also had very large cats roaming the cafe as well as birds and other snakes and lizards in glass aquariums. We both agreed that was a very unique experience and we really enjoyed it.

John:  We’ve been in Budapest for six days and understand Anthony Bourdain’s comment on its architecture, "If there was such a thing as architecture porn, it would be this". We rode the “most scenic tram route in the world”, number two and saw the magnificent Parliament building, a landmark of Hungary, a popular tourist destination of Budapest and largest and tallest building in Budapest. It was built in 1896 and is 96 meters tall. We plan on visiting the Parliament building to see it lit up at night. But while there are other grand buildings it’s the buildings used as businesses and apartments that give Budapest a beauty. The old buildings have been restored beautifully and newer construction melds seamlessly. As I walk through the city I enjoy looking down each street to see the blending of the muted colors of the different building or an ornately decorated dome peering over one of them. Some of the streets are old cobbles stone and there are small pedestrian town squares dotting the city. Many of the buildings have ornate sculptures as part of their façade. But the bank building over the sub station of the metro is all glass and metal and the canopies over the stairs connecting the subway are metal and glass. All of the architecture blends to give it a very pleasing feel.

Barb: “Ruin Bars”. In city known for “architecture porn”, its ironic that these bars are one of the main tourist attractions. In the late 90’s, many of Budapest’s buildings were in disrepair. Predatory developers were buying up the city’s decaying historic buildings, razing them, and replacing them with cheap and unsightly alternatives. Local activists, campaigning to save the country’s architectural heritage, succeeded in securing protected status for the Jewish District, one of the worst affected areas. Still without the funds necessary to actually revitalise these buildings, a creative solution was hit upon. The first ruin bar, Szimpla Kert opened in the an old factory. From then on, ruin bars popped up all over the district. Using the old buildings, flea market finds for decorations, they have become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Budapest.

We actually just stumbled upon Szimpla Kert by accident. We were walking down a street, saw the opening (not the sign) and went in. When I saw the name inside, I recognized it as the famous ruin bar. It was crazy cool inside! A main “hallway” off of which were many rooms with bars. The hallway led out to a courtyard. There is a second story also filled with rooms that looked down on the first floor. Our plans are to visit several other ruin bars during our stay.

John: The city is vibrant with people but the excellent mass transit, trams, buses, subway and taxis, seem to move many of the people making the streets lest congested and easy to cross. The people appreciate my polite attempt at their language but most of them speak English making communication easy. There are many restaurants, bars, cafes, grocery store, shops and other businesses common to all main roads. We have thoroughly enjoyed each of our meals since arriving here and don’t think we will be able to try all or even most of the restaurants we are interested in. We’ve eaten Hungarian goulash a couple of times and twice at a Hungarian restaurant. The food was delicious and goulash is advertised in many restaurants and I have noticed several Hungarian food places we haven’t been to. It seems the local foods are as desirable as the other ethnic foods. While all big cities can boast of ample variety and good quality ethnic restaurants only in Budapest does the local foods stand on equal footing. We came to Budapest from Romania and we thought being spoiled by the very inexpensive cost of living there would take some adjustment. While Romania cost of living was about 50% of that in the States my research indicates Budapest is 30% less expensive than Chattanooga, TN. Since arriving I have found that to be true. Another benefit is the beer culture in Budapest. We are a short walk from “Monyo Café” which is actually a taproom. Breweries here are not visited by customers so it is necessary to find them at bars, restaurants, and taprooms. Monyo has excellent IPA’s and a delicious porter for about $4 for true pint. The local version of Bud cost about $2 for a 13 ounce can.

Barb: One of the city squares have street lights that are made to look like plant leaves.

The For Sale Pub

We had lunch at The For Sale Pub. The interior is covered with notes from customers. Each table comes with a box of peanuts which you throw the shells on the wooden floors which also has hay on them. There are lit candles on each table. This all seems like a fire hazard but we made it out alive and the food was great!

The smells of the city are fantastic! Down almost every street you can smell the food coming from several different restaurants. Every ethnic cuisine seems to blend with the other. We’ve tried goulash from 3 different restaurants and although we have a favorite, they we all really good. We plan on serving a lot of goulash to our friends back home! John has been bringing home street food after his morning walks. We have had pasta from “Pasta”. It comes in oyster boxes and they serve only 4 different types of pasta and it is all take away only. Across the street from our apartment is a soup cafe. They also only have take away and 4 types of soups. We love “Tao” for chinese and “Istanbul” for middle eastern cuisine.

The Market hall

John: One morning I went to Great Market Hall  just a few doors down from our apartment. The temperature on my app indicated it was 38 degrees F so it would be more comfortable today than the first time we were there since there is no heat. My objective was to find hot Hungarian paprika that would fit in our luggage with minimal risk of opening and making a mess of our clothes.

The market has three levels, the basement contains an ALDI grocery store and fish merchants, the top floor has souvenirs and prepared foods and the main floor has chocolates, baked goods, charcuterie, meats, cheeses, produce and Hungarian paprika.

The first time we saw the market it was about 25 degrees so by the time we made it to the prepared foods on the upper level I was too cold to sit at one of the open tables to enjoy it. We did, however, stop at each booth to see there displays. There was goulash, potatoes, cucumber salads, pork knuckle, blood sausages, rice, couscous, and a dozen other foods I would love to have eaten. The forecast indicates temperatures are going up to around 50 so we hope to try some of that food this weekend.

Hungarian specialties

I identified five vendors selling Hungarian paprika. From what I could discern from the internet, any paprika purchased in Hungary is far superior to anything we could get in the States. There are main types, sweet (minimal flavor basically used for color or garnish), smoked and hot. At the Hungarian restaurant across the street we had stuffed cabbage rolls on a bed of sauerkraut seasoned or made with hot Hungarian paprika and we had a bowl of delicious Hungarian goulash with just the perfect amount of heat, we assumed paprika was used. Since we both enjoy eating food with spice or heat we’ve decided to make Hungarian hot paprika one of the spices we will try when we return home. The paprika comes in decorative metal tins, decorative material bags with tiny scoops and plastic bags of different sizes.

Barb: So that was pretty much our first week. Most of what we did was right in the neighborhood we are staying in. It’s wonderful! We have over 3 weeks left and we plan on a night time boat tour on the Danube river. We want to go back and see the Parliament building, visit more ruin bars, eat more great Hungarian food and sample more local craft brews. There are so many sights to see in Budapest that I am sure we won’t see everything but so far this has been one of our favorite cities on this journey!

To see more photos of The Zoo Cafe, just click HERE

To see more photos of the Szimpla Kert ruin bar , just click HERE

Cheers!
Barb and John

The Last Sit

Carlisle
Our final Sit brought us to Carlisle, England and in some ways it was the perfect conclusion to the first part of our adventure. We arrived by train and our host, Peter, picked us up and drove us 10 minutes to their home providing an informative narrative. Peter and Lindsey had an immaculate and comfortable home tastefully decorated and they had a friendly cat name Fliss.

Fliss

The bus stop was minutes from their door making visits to Carlisle convenient. Carlisle has a population of about 70,000 with comfortable shops and restaurants and ample energy. Lindsey prepared a delicious dinner. Afterward we talked while drinking wine. Their home was as comfortable as any place we stayed during our six months and Fliss perfectly behaved. Upon their return from holiday, we shared some coffee and tea and they told us about their holiday of dancing and we conveyed our pleasure of living in their home, experiencing Carlisle and caring for Fliss. We all hugged while they thanked us for taking care of their home and Fliss, while we encouraged them to visit us if they ever come to the States.






Some thoughts on the Sits.
 What a wonderful way to see the world! As the Sit part of our journey has ended, it's nice to reflect back on those Sits.

John: 

Our Adventure began as an idea to live outside of the US and evolved into taking care of homes and pets in Western Europe for six months, travel back to the States for a wedding and rent an apartment in Eastern Europe and travel Eastern and Central Europe until our tenants’ lease expired on May 1^st. We were excited to see places in Europe, place ourselves in situations we had never been and meet some wonderful people.

The Pet Sitting process involves buying a subscription to websites where pet owners post opportunities to stay in their home to take care of their pets while they are on holiday or away for business. The Sits can be for a few days to a few months. Some are posted days in advance of their departure while others are months in the future. Barb was able to reserve about 45 days of the 180 available before our flight to London. Our intention was to have Sits for as many of the days as possible to minimize hotel costs but learned quickly to allow adequate time between Sits for travel. Getting from our second Sit in Ward End England to meet with our Edinburgh host taught us a lesson. The time constraints were too tight traveling from Ward End, England with a departure time of 3:30AM flying to Edinburgh, Scotland to meet our host by noon, the same day.

France

While we were well prepared for the eight hours on a sleepless flight from Orlando, FL to London we had some difficulties moving from city to city using multiple forms of mass transit on average every four to five days over the course of six months. But we made commitments to our hosts and knew the end date was November 29^th, the date of our flight back for the wedding, so we persevered and the experiences in the cities and towns and the meeting of our hosts will be remembered for a very long time, especially our hosts. By the time we reached our final Sit in Carlyisle, Barb had secured Sits for 147 days of the 180, on average we traveled every 4 to 5 days, we had been to a dozen cities with populations from 4,300 to 8.8 million, we were entrusted to mostly cats but almost a dozen dogs and two chickens. Two of our Sits were in homes over 400 years old and one was a new, modern condo. 

We learned we preferred traveling by train over flying. The train stations were busy places during the day ranging from futuristic type malls to waiting rooms with small shops and vending machines. But each had display boards of the schedule of trains for the next several hours. The infrequent travelers all seemed to gather around the displays gazing or giving periodic glances to find their connection location and details. We almost always had time before boarding our next connection and enjoyed buying sandwiches and snacks for the next section of the trip and share a meal or a coffee with my lovely partner. Only once was there a security check to board a train. This greatly reduced the hassles of traveling by train compared to flying.

Bus travel is usually the least expensive and as comfortable as trains and with none of the flying hassles. The downside of bus travel is because of traffic, travel time is at risk of being extended. The other negative is some of the destinations are bus stops as opposed to stations. Think about the sometimes random places you see a bus stop sign and imagine not speaking the language, hungry and needing to get to a hotel or make another connection. One of our bus stops in Biarritz, France was in a housing development with only a pizza place and houses. We asked a pizza worker for a taxi company number, preferably English speaking. We didn’t have to travel far but there was a minimum $15 charge to get in the vehicle, so it cost about $30 to travel a few miles. But if you don’t encounter traffic delays and you end at a bus station, as opposed to a stop, the seats are comfortable and the views from the bus are the best.

Bakewell UK

While still in the states, after securing our first Sit, during the interview with our host, we agreed to come the day before their departure. We would have dinner together and stay overnight in their spare bedroom. After the interview, while discussing what we each understood, we both expressed hesitation and some angst about accepting the kindness of strangers before ever doing anything to earn it. We both agreed we would approach it as a learning experience. While it was mildly uncomfortable, our lovely hosts, Michaela and David, were warm, friendly and so genuine we were both at ease instantly and glad to be spending time with them. For the next 12 or so Sits, that approach was, by far, the preferred process and, as it turns out, allowed us to meet some wonderful people with delightful interactions that will be some of our fondest memories. While I usually felt slight angst planning to meet our next hosts, I was able to reassure myself recollecting prior meetings and the moment I started talking to our new host I was enjoying myself. I noticed how I felt just prior to our first Sits compared to the disappointment when our London Sit arrangements did not allow us to meet our host. 

Barb: When I first read about pet sitting, I thought "Yeah, sure. It's one of those things that you read about but very few people actually get do it. It sounds too good to be true." A little research told me it was doable. Do your homework, prepare and go after it. There are legit websites and real people that would love for you to come and pet sit for them.

Bear in Munich

13 Sits. So many wonderful memories. Sure there were issues from time to time but the majority of our time was wonderful. Amazing countries, amazing homes but the best part were our hosts. As we previously said in our blog post "New Friends" we have been lucky to meet some really fantastic people. They were welcoming, accommodating and respectful. They loved their pets and only wanted someone to care and love them while they were away. They were open minded enough to open their home to strangers and trust that we were everything we said we were.

The Sits got us to Europe. We have learned so much since landing in London back in May. If we decided to do it again, there are some things we would tweak but I think we did really well our first time out. 83% of our time for our first 6 months was spent doing Sits. When our journey ends in April, we want to look at pet sitting in the States. It's a wonderful way to see the world!


(If anyone would like more information on pet sitting, please message us privately and we would be glad to share what we know)

Cheers!
Barb and John

Berlin

John-The Meeting:

We were looking forward to our Berlin Sit because our hosts have two cats, Oskar and Lucy, and our host, Ellie, seemed very nice during the Skype interview and in all communications. We did spend a night in Berlin while traveling from Gdansk to Munich. While we only saw the train station and our hotel, it was all impressive and Ellie said their home was in the “cool” section.

Lucy

We flew into the Berlin Schonefeld Airport in the afternoon and walked out into a beautiful sunny day. The signage indicated the train we needed was close, just down a pathway. We passed the “Mama Burrito” food truck and stopped for a beer at a beer garden. The train took us to the tram that dropped us off just in front of our hotel Ellie had suggested. Barb told Ellie we arrived and the hotel was nice. Ellie said she and Ben would meet us in front of the hotel at 7 for a short walking tour of their neighborhood and back to their home for a review of our responsibilities and to meet Oskar and Lucy.

At about 10 minutes to seven we went down to the lobby. It was busy with guests checking in and out and waiting for the remaining members of their group to go out to see Berlin. After a few minutes I went outside to look for our hosts. I was entertaining myself by balancing on the curb looking for a car with two young people thinking they should recognize me because I was certain to look just like the person Barb would be married to. Across the street from the trams and further down our street toward Alexanderplatz I saw people, sitting, standing and walking through and around the chairs and tables in the lights from the businesses and street lamps. If I didn’t have plans I would have ventured to either street to see what the people were doing. Within minutes I noticed two people approaching slowly and felt they were looking at me. My first thought was, “Don’t make eye contact for fear of provoking an altercation!” so I avoided eye contact, it is a city of over 3.5 million. Luckily, they had more sense than me because the woman asked if I was John and then I realized it was Ellie and Ben. Not a good first impression on my part. I partially regrouped, greeted them both with only a handshake and said, “I will get Barb.”

Barb came out with her huge warm smile and outstretched arms providing each of our hosts with a comforting hug. Ben and Ellie must have been relieved Barb was accompanying me. They walked us across the street explaining their home was on the other side of the busy street divided by the Tram tracks. The street we were walking on was wide with trees and people enjoying the gorgeous night. Ben and Ellie explained they didn’t frequent this side because there are so many places to enjoy in the area around their home. The roads were not busy with cars as I’d expected in an area at the heart of a city of that size but we saw later that the trams, trains and buses were very popular. Berlin is also been ranked tenth most friendly bike city in the world, another reason for the noticeable absence of vehicles. Ellie had just explained the distinction of bike lane paths from the pedestrian walkways as we started walking toward the street. I looked at the sidewalk and saw the bike lanes were red pavers, a clear demarcation from the sidewalk. At that moment I felt a polite tug on my arm prompting me to move quickly in that direction. It was Ellie directing me out of the path of an oncoming cyclist. Slick second impression, oblivious.

Great neighborhood food!

After crossing the street, we walked up and down several blocks with Ellie and Ben pointing out places of interest. The streets were wide with tall trees toward the street and tall clean buildings with attractive architecture and some color differentiating one from the other. There were restaurants, bars, late night convenient stores, grocery stores, pharmacies, a cake decorating shop, “Cake Ville -- Bake, Rattle and Roll”, with ample people and good energy. At one point, Ben said he hoped we will enjoy our stay in Berlin. At that moment Ben motioned toward a wine shop. He talked to the clerk and they selected a bottle of wine.



We then thought it was a good time to meet Oskar and Lucy. They live in a two story home. Both cats were friendly and playful. We knew they were going to be good hosts while Ben and Ellie were on holiday. I say hosts because we knew if we abided by Oskar and Lucy’s rules everything would go smoothly. Ben and Ellie showed us their place pointing out the automatic cat food feeder and watering bowl, along with other items to make our stay more pleasant. Since none of us had eaten Ellie had a Nepalese restaurant deliver some food. We said they could order anything because we will eat any food. We talked over a glass of wine about Berlin, politics, cats and we coaxed Ben to show us the video he made of their year of house sitting in and around Australia. He said when they returned home many people asked them what they did for a year so they thought it would be easiest to describe it through a video. They paused the video when the food was delivered. There was antipasto, a calzone type food, and two small pizza like foods with a light airy crust with cheese, sauce and, one had whole olives. I enjoyed it all but loved the antipasto probably because I had seen that on menus all my life and never knew what it was. After watching the video, Barb and I were ready to look for Sit opportunities in Australia.

The conversation tripped and flowed from subject to subject while drinking a couple additional glasses of wine. Barb and I wanted to open the next bottle of wine but, begrudgingly, suggested we go because we expected they had to prepare for their trip. I have been told it is a good practice to leave the dinner table slightly hungry. I suppose that allows you to feel you’ve earned the right to your next meal. Well, we left that night wanting to spend more time with our hosts and maybe we will see them before we leave Berlin or during another adventure we may be on.
My response to Ben’s hope we enjoyed our stay should have been, “I don’t see how we couldn’t!”, because we loved it!

Barb – The Stay:

Ben and Ellie’s neighborhood was great! We found great restaurants, a nice pub, a grocery store nearby as well as the tram being very convenient.

We took a tour of the city one day by taking 2 different public buses that pretty much circled the city.

We went to the Berlin Wall. There are many areas of the Wall left and we choose the East Side Gallery area. Many artists have left their mark on the wall and this section spans about a mile.

You can see more of my photos of the Berlin Wall. Just CLICK HERE.

Ben and Ellie had an amazing Espresso machine and John took full advantage of it (with a little help from Lucy)

Ellie had told us about the Festival of Lights that would be happening during our stay. It sounded nice but we had no idea how amazing it would be! Every year, Berlin turns into a world full of light art. International artists present glowing light projections, 3D video mappings and light installations, transporting their messages, themes and contents. These artistic projections on landmarks, monuments, buildings, streets and neighborhoods. We had never seen anything like it! Live music accompanied some of the light shows and I captured part of one.

You can view the video of the light show. CLICK HERE.

You can see more photos from the light show. Just CLICK HERE.

Oskar

And of course there was Lucy and Oskar, our “hosts”. They were entertaining, adorable and loads of fun! It was a great Sit and we were so happy to be able to have lunch with Ben and Ellie when they returned home.








If you would like to see more of my photos of Berlin, just CLICK HERE.

Cheers!
Barb and John