Berlin's "Festival of Lights"

Berlin had it's "Festival of Lights, a two week lighting of over 50 famous buildings and landmarks using lights, strobes, searchlights, lasers, projections and fireworks. Rik (Mayda3000.blogspot.com) and I had a look at the festivities.

Neues Museum

Rik Mayda (of RikMayda3000) and I had a preview of the reconstruction of the Neues Museum on Museum Island.

Tom, Hey! Hope you are doing well! Just wanted to drop you a line and thank you for a fantastic tour of Berlin!! Had it not been for you Becky and I would have wandered around lost and missed all of the beauty and history that Berlin has to offer. We look back at our day with you in Berlin as one of our favorites out of a long trip. On the train ride out of Germany the two of us sat and tried to write everything down that we could remember from your tour. The list is pretty long (and accurate I hope), but only a small fraction of the great information you provided! Not to mention, we really miss that chocolate shop! Thanks you, and maybe one day we will meet again!

Above: Reflections at the Paul Lobe Haus

Below: Neue Wache Monument

Two pics from Peter and Mihali, May 6, 2007

I just love my job! They were doing a photo shoot of people bouncing on a trampoline in front of the Reichstag, and I got a chance! The classic Brandenburg Gate shot (below)

Short history of Potsdamer Platz

A quickly spoken history of Potsdamer Platz.

Debbie, Gail and Cheryl enjoying their tour with me on March 30.

Bodemuseum, Berlin

A fun day was had making a video for Rik from Mayda3000. The Bode Museum looks great after just 156 million Euros of renovation.

Dawn and Lisa do Berlin

My New Year's day clients Dawn and Lisa on our day together. They were absolutely vivacious and irrepressably fun. We hardly noticed how cold the day was.

The swans are sailing on the Spree River in front of the Marie-Elizabeth-Lüders Haus. A curious sidenote: the Spree really never floods because Berlin is virtually a swamp. The ground is saturated to a high level, and the soil is sand. These two features allow the river to never flood, the excess water soaks into the sand and fills the huge underground aquafier. This is how we can build our buildings so close to the river without fear of flooding. The river flows virtually constant throughout the year.

The girls also forwarded me the pic of the babylonian "Gates of Ishtar" in the Pergamon Museum. The tiles are still vivid and intense blue, 4000 years later!