From Europe to Africa in America - A Sisters' Expedition

[Flossbolna]

I loved your Tink photos!

Also, when we did the Sunrise Safari on our last trip, the guide told us that all the ostriches are female. I don't know if it is a real nest with real eggs but that would explain the fact that they are there. An interesting fact... male ostriches are black and females are gray. One of the females at AK has changed feather colors and is now black. They have no explanation for this change!

Thanks for posting this! It was your TR that I was thinking of. I was thinking that when there aren't any males around that there can't be little ones either. But perhaps ostriches are like hens which lay eggs anyway...

I am impressed that they tracked the food sensitivities at that level of detail but sad there weren't more options. I've heard so many great things about chef's going above and beyond for allergies, it's a little disappointing.

I think I was more disappointed than Katharina. I had read all those reports of people being really impressed, but to me it seemed that they just told Katharina what she couldn't eat. But I think for her it was already an improvement over a normal restaurant that she knew she would be able to get something safe for her. Is that right, Katharina?

No warm ham at all? Not for dinner? Very common buffet dinner item or special event item, like Easter dinner or Christmas. I'll avoid bacon, that sounds awful. That said, buffet bacon as a general rule, anywhere, is pretty bad.

Well, there is this dish of baked ham in bread crust. But it isn't common at all. Oh, and sometimes at fairs they sell warm ham in a bread roll as well. My family really likes warm ham and that's something we discovered in the UK. And I have a wonderful recipe for ham cooked in coca cola. It is just difficult to get the uncooked ham from a butcher...

Yes, sausage patties are rather hamburger like, probably why kids love them so much and they do have a certain seasoning to them as Liesa mentioned. Very different from links and there are multiple kinds of links, some quite tasty and others not so much!

The patties can be quite good depending on the sausage and spices, or rather horrid. And the good kind is the kind of sausage many will use to make biscuits and gravy with, YUM!

I see that there is much more to breakfast sausages than I thought... Perhaps that's something I need to investigate more on my next trip!

you ARE supposed to know everything!

normally I do!!

It does look like a corpse outline, yikes!

I am glad that someone else can see it, too!

Some GREAT PP pics in this update!!!!

Thanks!

 

[All7OfUs]

I see you've got more of your AK day up!! But lots of packing and trip prep today... will read later

 

[tiggrbaby]

Thanks for posting this! It was your TR that I was thinking of. I was thinking that when there aren't any males around that there can't be little ones either. But perhaps ostriches are like hens which lay eggs anyway...


When we took the Sunset Safari, they told us that they are all female, and lay eggs which are unfertilzed. The CMs collect they eggs, which are used for craft projects at the holidays.

 

[Lady Lallie]

Marc & I were just discussing as we were watching an old movie where there was a chalk outline of a dead body that they just don't do that anymore on tv or shows.

I'm not a fan of the bird show but I appreciate your pictures because I know I will never ever go see it.

 

[tiggrbaby]

When I was very young, the boy up the street was hit and killed by a car. I still remember the chalk outline; I would freak when my kids used to outline their bodies in chalk on the driveway!

 

[Flossbolna]

I see you've got more of your AK day up!! But lots of packing and trip prep today... will read later

I am sure you will get around to read it some time - I was already thinking that it is a bit unfortunate that I got back on tack with my posting when your time is seriously diminishing. I'll try to space out the next updates a bit so you won't come back after two weeks to a finished TR! I'd rather have you along while I write it!

When we took the Sunset Safari, they told us that they are all female, and lay eggs which are unfertilzed. The CMs collect they eggs, which are used for craft projects at the holidays.

I think I really need to go on the sunrise safari one day (of course that means paying for a CL room and with the Euro exchange rate at the moment, I can't see that happening soon!! ) Thanks for the info!

Marc & I were just discussing as we were watching an old movie where there was a chalk outline of a dead body that they just don't do that anymore on tv or shows.

I'm not a fan of the bird show but I appreciate your pictures because I know I will never ever go see it.

You know the show is actually about a person who has FOB (fear of birds) so this might be good for you!

When I was very young, the boy up the street was hit and killed by a car. I still remember the chalk outline; I would freak when my kids used to outline their bodies in chalk on the driveway!

Wow, I can understand how scary memories this must have triggered. So I would suggest to avoid looking to closely at the walkway towards Rafiki's Planet Watch!

 

[Flossbolna]

Remember Chapter 3 Part 1 and the history of the Berlin airports? If you don't, it can be found here.

I mention there that the Tempelhof airport was closed in 2008. So, now Berlin has this huge undeveolped area quite in the middle of the city which consists of two runways, the airport terminal and a lot of green space around the runways. It will be developed in some areas, but most of it is supposed to become a huge park. However, the city of Berlin does not have the money for that at the moment. So what they did is just add a tiny bit of infractracture and opened it as a park to the public as it is. The grand opening was a few weeks ago

And since people in Berlin love going to the park for a barbecue, they have designated barbecue areas there as well. And yesterday Katharina, her DH Remy and I for the first time went there to have a barbecue!

This is Remy heating up the grill:

This is me waiting impatiently for my food! (I took a pic of nodnol as well, but she will kill me if I post it, due to the lack of my skill as photographer my otherwise beautiful little sister does not look good on that picture!)

This is the view from our place: you can see the old terminal/hangar building in the distance:

And this is a view of Katharina and Remy from a bit further away (they are the one with the orange bag of charcoal) when I left to go on a bike ride across the area. In the distance you can see to the left of the church spire the silvery TV tower, which was built by East Germany and which is one of the main sights of the city. It is 1200 feet high and has a wonderful viewing area in the sphere on its top.

Templehof was the oldest airport (it used to be an airfield, but was then developed as airport for the Olympics in 1936). It was later in the American sector of Berlin and there fore also used by the American military as you can see from this part of the old terminal/hangar building:

West Berlin was never a part of West Germany in the sense of international law. From 1945 until 1990 it was occupied territory and officially governed by the three West Allies: UK, USA and France. They however had passed on government to the people of West Berlin but all three still had a military presence. This only ended with the "Two plus Four Agreement" in 1990. That's an internation treaty between the two German states at that time and the four Allies (UK, USA, France and Soviet Union) which finally passed full sovereignity over the whole German territory at that time back to Germany (even West Germany was not a fully sovereign state until then). But Germany also had to officially accept the borders of 1945 which meant a substantial loss of territory especially in the east to Poland (which de facto was no longer populated by Germans in 1990 anyway). In a way this treaty was the "real" peace treaty for WW II in Germany and it was the precondition for German reunification.

Ok, sorry for that tangent... On with the pictures: They have installed a few boards explaining about the history of the airport. Here is one on the Berlin airlift:

And these are some pictures from when the airport was operating. As you can see the main terminal hall was really tiny:

They also have these nice looking signs which are combined with maps of the area:

It is really great fun to cycle up and down a runway:

Ready for take-off?

And they even have a beergarden (in German: Biergarten) there:

As you can see we had a really wonderful summer Saturday! Actually the first day with really nice weather here for a very long time!

And since having a barbecue on an airport isn't exotic enough, Katharina and Remy had to go on a cycle tour on the highway today. I think she is planning to post a picture for you as well!

 

[LuccaDrake]

I'm not a fan of the bird show but I appreciate your pictures because I know I will never ever go see it.

LL, I'm extremely petrified of birds as well but I actually saw the show last time we went. I am one of those people that will try anything once and it wasn't that bad! Just make sure you sit in the way back. They only had the birds fly over us once in the very beginning and the rest of the show was on stage or with the audience up front. So be brave and go check it out, you might like it! Side note: The first time I went to Disney when I was 16 I got pooped on by a bird! Boy was I mad, it landed on my brand new outfit!

And Magdalene, I'm enjoying all the history that you are adding to your report. It's very fascinating and I can say I learned something educational on the DIS!

~Beka~

 

[tiggrbaby]

Love the info on the airport! It's so fascinating to learn the history from you! I am going to e-mail my son and tell him to check it out while he is there.

 

[klacey1]

Sounds like a lovely park day-- I love the bits of history sprinkled into your posts!!

 

[Lady Lallie]

What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday! It looks like a lot of fun.

I love all the information you post, it's always so interesting!

 

[pooh'smate]

I just finished catching up. I liked your review of Tusker House since we are eating there on our trip. I also love history so I enjoyed reading about the airport. That sounds like a fun way to spend a Saturday.

 

[mebbradley]

This is really cool! Thanks! I'm really excited for Berlin, I can't wait to fly over there!!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Enjoying your TR. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and photos. I'm enjoying them. I am just getting started on planning a new trip to AKL. Last time there was 2004, so it has changed a bit with the addition of AKV. This was my children's favorite place to stay, so with the 40% discount, we decided to suprise them with a trip to WDW at the holiday season. I've never been at that time of year, either, so I am excited as well.

 

[All7OfUs]

That is the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon! If the sun is shining, the grass is green and food is available, a BBQ/picnic is the only way to utilized them!!

I LOVE the history of the airports. What a great way to use the space for the people! I enjoyed the history as well. I need to go back and read more about the Berlin airlift too, now!

 

[All7OfUs]

OOOOOOOooo, you're so sweet to post to my specs. HA, really, we'll only be gone from the 8th-22nd. 15 days. Will I survive the DTs of internet addiction withdrawal??!!

I had contemplated taking the train to Rafikis, and still am not sure. I guess if I could be guaranteed a view of some vet. action, I'd go, but only if. I wonder if a CM could radio ahead to confirm or if they have a schedule of the day at Guest Services; now that I think about it, I'd heard that you CAN ask early in the day if there are procedures happening and you can sort of plan to be there when they happen.

Poo FACTS!!! Who wouldn't love that!!!??? I have GOT to get a pic of that!!! In fact, I'm going RIGHT now to add that to my hidden gems list!!!! Too excellent!!! I may actually get it framed and hang it in my own bathroom at home!!

 

[lovealldisney]

Thank you for the information on the airport! My DH and I will be in Berlin this September! I can't wait to go! We will be in Germany overall 17 days! So looking forward to our visit!

Berlin is the city I am most looking forward to! I am trying to plan an itinerary for our stay the problem is there is sooooo.... much we want to do and see!

 

[eandesmom]

what a lovely afternoon!!!

Cycling down the runway is the best part, very cool. Great information too.

 

[Sleepingbooty]

What a fun afternoon! Love the nifty, tiny little bbq grill. Cool background info too, thanks!

I'm loving all the little cultural references and the bits about the differences between German and American food (or should I say German and Disney food?!) What a fun and enlightening TR this is!

 

[nodnol]

Hello everyone,

in order to keep you entertained before I manage to comment on another chapter of the TR, which Magdalene has already written, I give you a short report on Sunday. It was the first really hot day in Berlin, I think we went from early spring to summer in three days weather wise, and perfect condition for a very special rally in Berlin - the Fahrradsternfahrt.
The first rally took place in 1977, so 2010 was the 34th with 200.000 participants (not as much as in 2008, when there where 250.000, but we thought it was much more crowded this year??).

It is a demonstration by and for cyclists and it really is not recommended to take the car on the day of the rally. There are different routes through the whole city and all end at a huge street leading to the Brandenburg Gate. Even parts of the urban motorway are closed for cars for several hours. The date for the rally is picked close to World Environment Day.

We usually take a route which starts in a completely different part of Berlin and leads actually out of the city and then returns to the city via the motorway (the most historic one: the AVUS was built 1921 as the first road exclusively for motorcars and as a motor sport venue.) It is 40 km plus 8 km to get to the starting point, so all in all 48 km, which I guess is about 30 miles in four hours. So it is not really challenging, and there are 16 different routes with various checkpoint where one can join, including one special route for kids and one starting a 6 AM in another town...

The best part for me is cycling on the motorway

Next Chapter 10: When will we make it back to AKL?