Last October, we undertook a few adventures to introduce and reintroduce the Andersons to various aspects of Southern California culture. (A combination of factors led to this presentation being tardy. Sorry.)
First — on October 19 — was “Borrego Days,” a community celebration held by Borrego Springs, situated in the middle of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Borrego Springs is 70 miles east and a little south of us. Here’s a video (2:52) showing some of the parade and our time walking around the exhibits in Christmas Circle.
The next day was Fallbrook’s “Harvest Faire,” held “downtown.” Video (4:21) below. Spoiler alert: they each won the costume contest for their age groups!
Balboa Park is San Diego’s central and major park, featuring several museums, gardens, etc. A couple of days following the Harvest Faire, Addy played hookey from school and we all traveled down to see the Park. Here’s video (3:51).
Halloween time around here doesn’t feature the neighborhood trick-or-treating the girls were used to in New Hampshire. But there is another tradition — Dia de los Muertos, “Day of the Dead” — big around here. Celebrated in Mexico and among those of Mexican heritage, it is a multi-day holiday. We attended a one-day celebration at San Luis Rey Mission, 11 miles southwest of us, on October 27. Video (4:41).
There have been years, as I have gotten older, when the levels of excitement and change were relatively low. This year was not one of those.
Foremost on the home front was the arrival in April of the Andersons. Meredith, Winter, and progeny had visited each year from New Hampshire in February. Duh. This time, they drove. And they stayed.
I had urged them each year to consider moving here, and to live in my house. Now they’re here. Adeline (8 in January) is in the second grade at La Paloma Elementary School in Fallbrook and Alice (4, with tongue out) attends pre-school at the Early Childhood Center.
Winter is working at Charlie’s Foreign Car in tony Encinitas, mostly on Porsches, Beemers, etc. Meredith recently started a part-time job at the local Boys and Girls Club, as a social media maven.
The grandgirls attended the Fallbrook Harvest Faire in October and each won her age group in the costume contest. The presenters in the photo are “Fallbrook Princesses.”
Julia and I took our trip to Berlin and Lithuania in June. It was a wonderful experience and I am so happy I was able to share it with Julia.
On June 12, we flew on Aer Lingus to Dublin and then Berlin. We were met at the airport by Isabel Traenckner-Probst and her daughter. Isabel was our principal contact among the family of Wilhelm Canaris. Our trip was founded on the return of materials that had belonged to Admiral Canaris and had been taken after WWII by my parents, who had been billeted in the Canaris house in Berlin in 1945/46. (You can see much more about the trip, etc., with photos and several brief videos, at socalbillmcdonald.com. Part I: Getting there You’ll be able to access the posts in order.)
On our first night, we attended a gathering of the extended Canaris family and spent the next several days with many wonderful new friends. Julia and I, and the Canaris family, visited the family home (photo below), and later Julia and I attended Mass at the church in which my parents were married. Perhaps too much information :), but the Canaris house is where I was conceived. My mother returned to the States in July 1946, followed soon after by my father.
Julia and I touristed a lot. Berlin—both old and new—is more than I had expected. Set a personal record for “steps” on one day and blew it away the next. We stayed in an especially interesting hotel for part of our stay. Its idiosyncrasy is reflected well in its name—Hotel Pension Funk.
We few to Vilnius, Lithuania, on June 19, and stayed in its Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the largest medieval old towns in Northern Europe.
Our street in Old Town Vilnius
We also visited the Curonian Spit, a 60-mile-long dune peninsula that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea, and is also a World Heritage site.
On our return to Vilnius, we stopped in Kernave, an ancient capital, to join thousands of people celebrating midsummer, longest day of the year.
We also found the graves of an earlier generation, the location of which had been unknown to us. I had had no idea where in Lithuania my grandparents had lived before emigrating, but we found out, amazingly, through a Facebook page on Lithuanian genealogy. We learned that my grandmother’s parents were buried in Zervynos, an ethnographic village being preserved in a Lithuanian national park not far from Vilnius. We drove there on June 24 and found the graves of our ancestors (photo). Zervynos was very likely where my grandmother had been born and grew up. It was especially profound, to me, to have my daughter, another generation, with me.
Back to Berlin, we celebrated Julia’s 30th birthday with friends at, of course, a biergarten.
Returning to Boston on June 28, we then took separate flights home. Wonderful people, sights, and lifelong memories.
An unusual, if not particularly significant, highlight took place in the spring. I was waiting to meet Adeline’s school bus, when I saw a car with “Google” on the side and what I guess was a camera on top. Yup, I was captured on Google Streetview.
Dillon is now actively engaged in “uncle-ness.” Julia and Sam are living in Beavercreek, Ohio, she still working with DFAS and he at defense contractor Leidos.
Also, as indicated in last year’s note, I’m publishing a blog about my active duty years in the Navy. Fifty years ago, I was on the USS Biddle (DLG-34), which deployed to the Western Pacific May-December 1969. That blog is BlueandGold1968-71.org. I found on Facebook a page dedicated to USS Biddle. I have since connected through that page with several shipmates. Even newer Biddlemen have found some of the posts interesting.
Wishing you a very merry Christmas and happy hindsight!
The final stage of the “Berlin/Lithuania 2019 Tour” involves a simple flight from Boston to San Diego on 30 June. It allows me, however, to post some photos and a video that may be of interest.
I had driven Julia to Logan Airport early that Sunday morning for her 7:10 am flight to Columbus, Ohio. Margaret Evans drove me later that morning for my 10:23 am JetBlue flight. Everything was essentially trouble-free. Again, nice way to come home.
Visitors have occasionally asked me about the large body of water they fly over coming into San Diego from the east. I’ll say, “Salton Sea” and see a puzzled expression. They’d never heard of it.
Here are a couple of views of California’s largest lake.
This photo shows Borrego Springs off in the distance.
“Green” hillsides contrast with desert.
Cowles Mountain and north San Diego.
Finally, here’s a time-lapse view of the approach to and landing at San Diego.
Sorry for going backward in time a little, but I wanted to share some more street scenes from Berlin that didn’t make it into other videos.
One of the scenes shows a sculpture of Ampelmännchen, literally “little traffic light man.” Designed and used in East Germany, this was one of the few elements of East Germany that found some favor in the unified country. The symbol has become a popular souvenir in various forms — on cups, shirts, magnets, etc. — and is used in many parts of Germany. There are three options available — Ampelmännchen, the old West German option, and a pan-German option introduced in 1992. Each German state can choose which option to use.
I mentioned how prevalent bicycle travel was in Berlin and how much it was supported. I don’t recall any sidewalk in the city that didn’t provide a distinct bike path. But something else also stood out. Most bicycle riders did not wear helmets. Even kids. It was almost rare to see riders with helmets. You’ll see evidence of this in a couple of scenes in these videos.
We were to leave Berlin on the morning of 28 June. It was to be the reverse of our itinerary 16 days earlier — Berlin to Dublin, Dublin to Boston on Aer Lingus.
We took a cab to Tegel Airport and quickly checked in at Aer Lingus. Piece of cake. We got into the security line at about 8:15. Plenty of time for our 10:45 departure.
In line for security check
More than 90 minutes later, as we started finally to approach the security area, I noticed people coming up to those ahead of us, chatting, and then joining the line. I also noticed a group of about a dozen guys who looked like they were part of an athletic team just cutting in. By the time we reached the area that had barriers, I counted about 50 people who had somehow gotten into line ahead of us. We boarded our flight soon after getting to the gate. Glad we left early for the airport!
We had a somewhat long layover — 4 hours, 10 minutes — scheduled for Dublin. I had noticed Aer Lingus did not use the international terminal at Logan Airport in Boston, so I figured we would go through U.S. customs in some fashion in Dublin. We did. I had prepared all sorts of information about what we had bought, its value, etc., figuring we would have to fill out a form. Nope. Julia and I went through customs in adjacent lines.
When I approached the customs officer, and after she looked at my passport, she asked, “Where do you live?” Uhhhhhhh. I just did not expect that question. Somewhat stammering, I said, “Fall . . . brook . . . California.” She asked if I was traveling with anyone. I said, “My daughter” and started to point her out in the adjacent line, but Julia had already gone through the line. I looked around for her, puzzled. I’m sure the customs officer was beginning to wonder about this old guy in front of her.
She showed me a somewhat fuzzy picture on her computer screen of what looked like my luggage. She asked if this appeared to be luggage with which I was connected. I hesitantly said, “I believe so.” “Where did you visit in Europe?” “Berlin and Lithuania.” “What did you buy?” “Uh, amber . . . teeshirts . . . souvenirs.” “Thank you, Mr. McDonald.” “What?” “You can go now.”
Julia had been asked only where she lived.
Lunchtime. I was finally able to sit and enjoy some Guinnesses, along with enjoying overheard chatting between two Irish biddies, talking rather sharply about various members of their families.
Below is brief video (0:26) of our departure from Dublin, with a view of the east coast of Ireland.
The Atlantic crossing, heading west, took a little longer than the opposite route. We were back on an Airbus 330 and again enjoyed a meal — pasta.
Flying over Newfoundland, Canada, we saw it still had some snow in late June.
We landed in Boston about 6:30 pm. Took Lyft to the home of friend Margaret Evans in Brookline. It had been a long day. With the six-hour time difference between Berlin and Boston, our body clocks were at something like 1:30 am while we chatted with Margaret. Sleep that night was easy and deep. Nice to be back. It was already less stressful, able to read signage and be familiar with surroundings.
On our last full day in Berlin, 27 June, we looked, as we had done in Lithuania, to get gifts to bring home. That evening, we celebrated a special birthday with new friends.
Julia and I first split up to do shopping, and I headed to the Porsche Zentrum. I was looking for a gift from Porsche that would be perhaps Germany-only for my son-in-law, and Isabel’s son, Lars, had suggested this location. (My son-in-law had just started working for Charlie’s Foreign Car in Encinitas, which focuses on German cars.)
Porsche’s headquarters are in Stuttgart, but it and other German automakers have zentren (centers) in Berlin, most of them in the same general area, in Charlottenburg along the Franklinstraße. Here’s a gallery of some of them.
I also went by a building with a sign saying “talk about race.” Wow, was it a “woke” organization working to foster conversation about an important issue in Germany? Wondered for maybe a second. Then remembered where I was . . . in the middle of automobile companies. “Race” meant “racing.”
The Porsche Zentrum offered displays of cars and a small section called “Drivers’ Selections” containing hats, shirts, key fobs, etc. I was able to get my son-in-law a Porsche Motorsports shirt. In the process of buying the shirt, I had to sign a form acknowledging that I had received the item. The sales clerk then stamped the form with two different stamps. Then there was a second transaction charging my debit card. It all seemed somehow “German.” Here’s a gallery of cars on display and other scenes of the zentrum.
We also spent time on Kurfürstendamm, the street just north of our hotel. It’s one of the premier shopping areas in Berlin. I mean, the Apple Store is there, for crying out loud. 🙂 Here’s a gallery of some of the stores there.
One building on the street was especially interesting to me, a resident of California. Here’s the Berlin version of Hotel California. You can tell by the ersatz palm trees.
In addition to the high-end shopping opportunities, there were also a ton of souvenir shops, including one that offered a new use of the iconic Trabant.
That evening, our last in Berlin, we had been invited to join a group at the Café am Neuen See, a classic biergarten on the “new lake” in Tiergarten. The reason: Julia’s 30th birthday. Our hosts were Michael and Connie Günther, as well as Isabel Traenckner-Probst and her son, Lars. (Lars, 17, had just returned to Berlin from competing in the national four-man, under 19, rowing competition. His team finished second, in a photo finish. His pride at the accomplishment was diminished greatly by the close loss. If his team had won, they would have competed in the world under-19 championships in Japan.)
From left: Michael Günther, Julia, me, Isabel Traenckner-Probst, Lars Probst, and Connie Günther.
We enjoyed traditional beer garden fare and the company of friends so far away. It was a great way to end our trip.
We had talked earlier with Michael and Connie about the television series Berlin Babylon, a “neo-noir” crime series set in Berlin in 1929, during the Weimar Republic. The series debuted in Germany on the Sky network in October 2017 and in the U.S. on Netflix in January 2018. The show is based on the first in a series of four books by German author Volker Kutscher, which depict Germany 1929-31. Michael and Connie gave Julia those four books for her birthday.
We arrived back in Berlin mid-afternoon on 26 June, reportedly the hottest day ever recorded in Germany. The temperature in Berlin hit 98°F, I believe, and it was steamy as well.
Nice cab
It was nice that our taxi from the airport was, for the first time for me, a Mercedes-Benz. Negating that, however, was my miscalculation in getting out at the “corner” of our street, Fasanenstraße, because of heavy traffic, and forgetting it was a long street. Julia and I had to push/pull our luggage for several blocks in high temps.
We were back to the Hotel-Pension Funk. Julia had the same room as she did before, but I was no longer in the “penthouse.” My room was smaller and shared bathroom facilities. Still, it was nice to be back somewhere familiar.
My “regular” room
That extended to dinner, as we returned to the Literature House and its restaurant, Wintergarten. Here’s Julia at our table, with each of us back at the French sardines.
Walking back to the hotel, we came across this rather ornate entrance way.
Our last day in Lithuania was 26 June. The morning was spent wandering a little, packing, etc. Walked by the Church of St. Anne, one of Old Town’s best examples of Gothic architecture, built originally in 1495-1500.
Church of St. Anne, Vilnius
Also found an interesting, subtle example of civic fountain.
At lunch, we had a visitor which seemed much accustomed to its purpose.
Finally, on to the airport.
There, we visited the duty-free section. Here’s a gallery of photos.
Another collection of images that didn’t quite fit into other posts.
Food/beverage items
A Dutch product. Eitjes means “eggs.”
Not sure how you pronounce Pienas (milk) in Lithuanian.
This sign was in airport. There were also signs extolling Lithuania’s robust wi-fi network. One said something on the order of “Italy is proud of its ancient ruins. Lithuania is proud of its high-speed wi-fi. Enjoy our resource!”
The rental VW Golf gave this view when you put it in reverse.
Except for two nights spent in Juodkrantė on the Curonian Spit, our Lithuanian base was a two-bedroom apartment on Pilies Gatve (Castle Street), described by the Vilnius tourism site as “the oldest and most flamboyant street in Old Town.”
Great location, great accommodations. And for €350 for the week!
The bathroom arrangement was interesting. One room contained the toilet and sink; another provided a sink and bath/shower.
Access to the apartment by car was slightly tricky. The entrance to an adjacent courtyard was through a very narrow opening. Once there, you could open the gate to “our” courtyard with a remote. Again, very narrow openings. The rental VW Golf had proximity alarms. They pretty much screamed throughout the process. They were turned off for this video (1:34) showing both pedestrian and auto access.
