Cecilienhof

Schloss Cecilienhof...this is a nice place to live. Crown prince Wilhelm and his wife Cecilie used to live here a couple of years in some of its 176 rooms.

Not only the building itself but also the gardens are exceptional nice. To me it looks a bit too artificial but nevertheless the gardener did a great job.
The surrounding park, called Neuer Garten, is a special place, too. Around the Marmorpalais (which is the "small" palace where the price an his wife had lived before building Cecilienhof) there are a couple of strange buildings. The palace kitchen is built in the look of an ancient roman temple. Or the ice cellar (the refridgerator of former times) is built as an egyptean pyramid. Very strange..but funny.
Then there is the Orangerie where the delicate plants were stored during the winter.
On one end of the building there is an interesting hint to Egypt, too. A female (I guess so:-) Sphinx overlooks the area.

Bridge of spies

Beside Checkpoint Charly on Friedrichstrasse the Glienicker Brücke was probably the most famous border checkpoint between West-Berlin and the surrounding Eastern German Republic. It got it's nickname "Bridge of Spies" from the several exchanges of spies and prisoners between the US and the Soviet Union, which took place right here in the middle of the bridge.
(Wikipedia)

Today it's simply a nice bridge, connecting the southwestern part of Berlin to the beautiful city of Potsdam.

Back again

Well, the summer break is over, I will resume posting. Let's start with a flower picture, as an apology for the long break :-)

Excessive labor

It looks so innocent but even a computer with not much more than office applications can be a terrible slaveholder. I know it, I'm its galley slave these days :-)

Capital beach

Actually it is not a real beach, there is no sand. Nevertheless it's a nice bar right next to the water and with a perfect view of the Berlin sunset. The building in the background is the German chancellery, the office of Angela Merkel.
Comfortable beach chairs, electronic lounge music and cold drinks are exactly the right things to help stressed business men to unwind in the evening, after a successful business day :-)
It's located on the river bank just opposite to the Hauptbahnhof.
This is how it looked after sunset (about 10pm and still not dark) and it's still very crowded. Am I the only one to get up early in the morning? :-)