Berlin

Such a crazy, wonderful day heading to my fatherland!

I almost missed my connection in Dublin as we had gotten in 20 minutes late, leaving me 25 minutes to get to my gate. The airport is huge and I had seen the wrong gate when I looked at the monitor running to the 100 Terminal instead of staying in the 400 Terminal.  I was the last one on the bus to the plane after my sprint back.  Thankful that I had trained for the Broad Street 10 mile run, because it came in handy while running through the airport with a 30 pound backpack on my back!

Berlin Airport, on the other hand, is minuscule. One small terminal where I couldn't figure out how to get the train.  It was all good though as I found the taxi stand outside and a cute German taxi driver got me to the Circus Hostel.

I loved their signs for bathrooms!

This was a beautiful hostel.   Contemporary, clean and right in the middle of the Mitte District, it had a bar, a cafe, and it was on a street lined with other cafe's right next to a major bahn with several Metro's also right outside.  It was all good though as I tend to walk.  This was about a mile and a half from the Brandenburg Gate.  Perfect location!

I'm sharing a nice room with a balcony with three 20 somethings (traveling solo). Valentina from Russia, Nick from Toledo, and the other guy is sleepy and never introduced himself. Valentina stayed the length of my trip, but the other two were replaced by Gustav from Sweden and a Korean girl whose name I can't pronounce.

Thoughts about Berlin... Beautiful city that reminds me. Maybe DC combined with NYC.  Large and a bit confusing to walk, bisected by the beautiful Spree River, which I kept getting drawn to. Funky, artsy vibe. Big nightlife, lots of gray/blue/pink hair and funky clothes. Wonderful museums, great art scene, very urban. Friendly people, English spoken most places. Very handsome men. 

I got there on Thursday and after dropping everything off at my hostel I was able to start walking the city. I headed over to the Brandenburg gate because I had reservations at the Reichstag Building that evening. Beautiful day to walk around and discover the river. I decided then that I would run there the next day :-)

Brandenburg Gate

Beautiful and historic, the Brandenburg Gate. The wall is now down, but there is a cobblestone path. 

Cobblestones of Berlin Wall

I walked along the outskirts of the Tiergarten and stopped at a Biergarten for some Currywurst. This is a traditional Berlin meal of Würst with a curry sauce, combined with pomme frites.  Delicious!

Currywurst

I had read the best view of Berlin is at the dome of the Reichstag building, so I had made my reservation for that evening. It was beautiful and you could see all of Berlin. It's free and includes a free audiotour as well. 

Reichstag Building

Roaming around the Tiergarten after, I came across a memorial garden for the Sinti and Roma (gypsies). I could feel the sadness and started crying.  It was beautiful and so sad. 

Stopping for some delicious pho on my way back to the hostel, it was time to rest for the night. 

Memorial to the Murdered Jews

Day 2
Today was the day for me to visit what I thought would be the most moving part of the trip. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews. Well, I was disappointed. Although the concrete pillars were architecturally cool, they did not move me.  Although I thought that the exhibit would be much more, it was only four rooms that also didn't move me.  The feeling was much more educational that emotional. Here I was in my Father's birthplace, thinking that I would be sad, and feeling nothing! 

My taxi driver​had told me I should go to Augustina for a beer, so I headed over that way. It appeared to be the high rent district, but I went anyway. Ein Bier und kartoffel suppe was delicious!  The soup makes me understand why my Oma always told me soup is fattening! I also had the most beautiful view of the Dom.


From there I walked to the new synagogue and toured the dome. It was destroyed not during kristalnacht, but bombed during the war.  The police chief of that district had protected the Schul that night of what they call the Pogram. All other schuls and Jewish businesses were destroyed. 

I was finally ready  for my Berlin run.  The River Spree and the Tiergarten was where I was going to do that run. What better way to explore a city?

The Tiergarten is a large park in Berlin. There is a zoo at the end of the day. I did not make it to it though. 

That night I found a cute restaurant on the funky street where my hostel was and sat at a sidewalk table enjoying the beautiful evening. 











I walked over to the Neue Synagogue on Oranienburger Strasse and toured the synagogue.  It was beautiful.  During Kristalnacht, the police chief from that district stood in front with the fire brigade, attempting to save it from the destruction.  He succeeded.  It was later bombed by the allies, but it had been saved during the Pogrom (what they call Kristalnact in Germany).  If anyone doesn't know, Kristalnacht was November 8th, 1938.  It was the night of broken glass when businesses and anything having to do with the Jewish people were destroyed by German Citizens.  That was the night my family left Berlin and made their way to Belgium, then Amsterdam, seeking safety.  Many German Jews did the same that night.

The last day I was in Berlin at the Judisches Museum. It was a rainy day, so perfect for being inside. 
The museum was the opposite of what I felt the day before. The architecture was moving. Standing in the void, I felt the need to say the yiskor prayer in my head. I stood there for quite a while, just feeling the void.  In fact, it took me seven hours to go through this museum.  I was so captivated by the architecture, history, and artifacts that I couldn't leave.  

The rest of the museum is just as wonderful, from the Garden of Exile, to the permanent exhibit. It was both moving and informative. For instance, I had no idea that Jews were first accepted in Köln and that's where the first Synagogue in Germany was!  This was significant to me, because my Oma, grandfather and Father only lived in Berlin for a short time and then they moved on.  They had move to Berlin from Cologne because they felt that they could be safer in a larger city.  Until they weren't ...

Running Along the River Spree

Museum Island - this was the Bode Museum

Garden of Exile

In the Judisches Museum - Special Exhibit 
Shalekhet (Fallen Leaves) by Menashe Kadishman 

Walking through Berlin - Karl Marx statue

und ein bier

Of course I had Spaetzel!

 I was sad leaving Berlin, but now on to where my heritage is .... Cologne!

Bahnhauf

Germany and the Netherlands

I'm about to embark on a journey that will bring me to places my fathers family lived in Europe.  As I've been wanted to do this trip since I was a child, it's about time!

My Oma's family was from Cologne Germany, and she was born in a small town outside of Cologne, called Neuwied.  Although I may not make it to Neuwied, I do know it's just about 50 miles down the Rhine River from Cologne.  My beautiful Oma lived in Cologne until she married and with impending WWII and the government sanctioned hate of the Jewish race, they moved to Berlin.  They felt that since Berlin was a large city they would be safer than in Cologne, a city of parishes and Catholics.  They were, of course, wrong.  After moving to Berlin, my father was born in January 1938.  They left Berlin on Kristalnacht (the night of broken glass) in November of 1938.  They saw the writing on the wall (literally) and walked to Belgium, where they again believed they could possibly be safe.  They were not.  They then took a train to Amsterdam, where they believed they could be safe.  They were not, but my Oma was able to hide out for a couple of years.  She got fake papers from a man who did this for the Jews, but that ended up being her downfall.  Her name was possibly Miriam or Marie Goldmeyer with these papers, but she forgot that name.  Her real name was Rose, or as everyone called her Roschen for "little Rose".

I always wonder why some people left and others didn't.  Rose had two brothers, Herman and Karl.  Herman left and went to Columbia when they saw what was happening.  He stayed in Columbia and eventually moved to Florida with his Swedish wife.  They had a daughter, Liz, and he had another daughter with a mistress from Columbia, Helen.  Helen was named after my Great Grandmother Helen, the same person I was named for.  Her name was Helen, or Helena, and they called her Lenschon (little Helen - see a pattern :-P )  Yes, I take after that side of the family!  T m hey were little, but they were also quite badass.  My Oma used to always tell me that no one messed with the Meyer boys.  They boxed and wrestled and would beat anyone who challenged them.

My Uncle Karl was married to my Aunt Margueretta and they had moved to Amsterdam before my Oma with my great grandparents, Helen and Jacob.  Aunt Margueretta was not Jewish and they had a son, Herbert, who was a little older than my father.

Rose married Gustav (my grandfather) when she was 26 in 1937 and had my father in 1938.  Ok, I just had a small epiphany that could be scandalous!  Gustav was much older than Rose, but he was the love of her life.  He was 49 when they married.  Gustav was an importer of brushes and combs from Ireland.

Some pictures I found in an old album - possibly Uncle Karl's album - Amsterdam around March of 1940

 

My Oma is the third from the left

Uncle Karl on the right, my great grandparents Helen and Jacob in the middle

Marguaretta holding my father, Rose with Herbert and Karl

Now, about that downfall of the fake papers ....

My great grandparents and Uncle and Aunt went to Amsterdam when Rose went to Berlin.  They thought that it would be safer there.  My Great Grandfather, Jacob, was arrested in the street in Cologne and somehow they freed him and went to the Netherlands.  My father was able to stay with my Oma until he was four years old and it became too dangerous for them.  At that point, they found a friend in Rotterdam with two boys of there own and paid the family to hide my father.  My Oma moved to Rotterdam to be closer to him.  My grandfather had already been murdered in Auschwitz at that point.  How did this woman who was treated like a princess her whole life up to that point do what she did to survive and allow her baby boy to survive?   She sold all her jewelry to pay them and survive.  How did she have so much strength? 

There was a man who had forged her papers as well as papers for many other Jews.  He was turned in by someone and told that if he gave the names of the Jews who he forged papers for, they would let him go.  Of course they killed him after they got the information out of him!  Oma would go to see my father every weekend and take him for the day, but that day it was raining extremely hard and she decided not to go.  Thank G-d!  They came to get her and told her they would kill her if she didn't tell her where her son was.  She said she had no idea as her family had hidden him, so they would just have to kill her.  And so began her deportation out of Westerbork and to Auschwitz.

Peru Adventure

Why Peru?  At the end of the Kilimanjaro trek, my new adventure friends were talking about where to go next and I believe it was Manuel who said, Machu Picchu!  Well, one of the great wonders of the world sounded like the perfect next hiking adventure, and friends who had already done it told me that it would soon be overrun with tourists, so I should go sooner rather than later.  Perfect!

The Inca Trail seemed a little too easy - 26 miles over 3 days?  I've run that in 5 hours!  I also wanted to be off the beaten path, so I chose the Salkantay Trek (46 miles over 4 days) and sent the word out to friends to see if anyone wanted to join me.  I was extremely happy when my friend Ming (Kili trail name "Mama Kichaa" (crazy mama) to my "Dada Kichaa" (crazy sister) would be joining me on this wonderful journey!  I knew it would be a blast :-)

One of our requirements was good food on the trek (after the gruel we were served on the Kili trek), and I got a recommendation from some new hiking friends (thanks Luca and Alex!) that the meals were fantastic on their trek, so we booked with the same company. 

The plan was this:

Two days in Cusco to acclimate - touring for a half day the first day, and then the next day would be a full day tour of the Sacred Valley.

Trek day 1: Challacancha to Soraypampa then to Humantay Lake (7.45 miles, max altitude 15,090 feet)
Trek day 2: Soraypampa to the Salkantay Pass, then to Wayracpunka and Chaullay (13.7 miles, max altitude 15,255)
Trek day 3: Chaullay to Collpapampa to La Playa to Lucmabamba (hot springs day!) (11.2 miles)
Trek day 4: Lucmabamba to Hidroelectrica to Aguas Calientes (11.2 miles)
Trek day 5: Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu

The last two days were going to be spent recovering or exploring.  

After traveling all day, we arrived at our hotel (Munay Wasi) in the early morning hours of our first day, and were greeted with Coca Tea and wonderful service - they had our room ready for us.  We were picked up at about 1:00 for our half day city tour.  One thing to note - our trekking company included the tour, but not the entry fees for the tour sites.  This was a little bit annoying!

Cusco is a beautiful, historic city.  It was the main city for the Inca's and has beautiful cobblestone streets (small streets - reminded me of my neighborhood and also reminded me a bit of Jerusalem).  It's located in the Andes Mountains and has an altitude of 11,152 feet.  

Our first stop was the Cathedral - beautiful and filled with gold and silver and ornate carvings (no pictures allowed inside the cathedral :-( )

Our second stop was the Sun Temple - an Inca Temple

We then went to the closest four Inca archeological sites: Sacsayhuaman, Qenqo, Pucapucara, and Tambomachay.

Again, we weren't told that we would need a "touristo pass" for both days were were on the tours.  It was 130 soles (about $40 US), but we didn't know we needed to take out enough cash to cover this expense.

Our hotel lobby - nice and always some coca tea waiting for us!

Munay Wasi Hotel

Typical street in Cusco - narrow, cobblestoned, hill

Market in Cusco

Monument - a man was washing another man's hair on the other side of this.

Sacred  Valley Tour - We went to several places over two days:

 Sacsayhuaman, Qenqo, Pucapucara, and Tambomachay

Pisac, Ollantaytambo

Um ... Dinner?

Dyeing demonstration - they use beetles for some reds and purples :-)

I just had to do it!

Sacred Valley tour lots of Inca ruins!

This is where our tour people were having lunch - seems to have a Jerusalem connection!  Ming and I opted for the little place accross the street :-)

Yummy Cosquena Negra Beer!

The Sun Temple

Giant Peruvian Corn

Had to try it!  Cuy ... Guinea Pig!  Yes, it was yummy.  Chewy skin, not much meat, but yummy!

Chicha Morada - drink made from Peruvian purple corn

Ming in the market

The Trek

We were picked up at 5:00 am for our first trekking day.  Always the first ones to be picked up (kind of annoying), but I was ready and excited!  
We met our new friends and trekking partners:
Michelle and Andy from Baltimore
Cristina, Valerian and Sebastian from Romania
Carly from Colorado
Anna from Texas and Alexander from Rhode Island
Alyssa from Canada
Florence from France
and Ming and I added up to 12 trekkers.

Diego and Percy were our guides
Jose and Flora were our horseman and woman 
Santos and Ivan were our chef and sous chef

Our first day was beautiful, blue skies and wonderful weather.  After about two hours of driving we stopped for breakfast and then were on our way for another two hours of driving.

The first trek of the day was over beautiful and easy terrain, but since we were still getting used to the altitude, it wasn't as easy as it would have been.  It was also HOT!  Walking up the trail, there were beautiful trees and flowers.  We then walked along an "Inca Canal" with cool, clear water.  This was a bit disconcerting for me, as there was the canal on one side, a large drop on the other side, and only about 18 inches of trail to walk on in between. 
 But walk we did, to our first campsite at Soraypampa,  There we had a wonderful lunch of the most delicious guacamole I've ever tasted, soup, pickled vegetables, a pumpkin dish with Andes cheese, and a skewer with veggies and just caught trout!  Ahhhh - this is the way to trek!

Probably the best guac I've ever had!

Our first meal together on our trek

After lunch we did a hike up to Humantay Lake.  It was an extremely hard 3 mile hike to prove that we could do the following day's hike up to the Salkantay Pass, but well worth it.  A glacier lake, it was the most beautiful blue/green color and we could see the Humantay Glacier at it's edge.  So beautiful!

Cows roaming free ... yum!

The other group - Anna from Canada!

Humantay Lake

After another amazing dinner of soup, pasta, veggies and dessert of a hot rice pudding with blueberries, we went out to look at the stars and constellations.  This is one of the reasons I love these trips.  No light pollution, no excessive static of cell phones, computers, email, text messages, apps, or any technology whatsoever.  The perfect way to rest from our busy lives!

The next day, we started out at 5:30am for our hike up the "Gringo Killer" to Salkantay Pass.  We started out slowly going up at a not so bad incline, but I still needed to stop and rest along the way.  Then we reached the "Gringo Killer".  A trail of switchbacks going up the mountain at a much steeper angle.  Here we saw people who had given up and went by horse (NEVER).  It took me a while, but I did it!  I was double most of the people in our "family's" age and probably had the heaviest pack (took way too much stuff), but I did it, and after lugging up a large rock (Diego told us that the older you are, the bigger your rock should be), I had my prayer moment on the top of Salkantay Pass.  

I will probably add more text later, but haven't had the time since I've been home, so getting out the pictures now!

Horses on the trail

We made it past the Gringo Killer!

My usual tree pose on top of the rock ... was outdone by Anna and Alex and their  yoga poses standing on their heads (note - they're 24 years old and yoga instructors)

We made it!

Toasting Haumantay and Salkantay 

Percy, Ming, Diego and me

I'm always trying to climb higher!

Was told to get the biggest rock so I can make a wish at the top.  The elder brings the biggest rock to the top :-0

Pizza ... so delicious!

Hiking down, down, down ... 5000 feet down that day!

Dogs everywhere

Hot Springs!

Ceviche for lunch :-D

Coffee growing on the trees 

Roasting the coffee beans

Our aching feet would no longer fit in our boots!

We did it!

Puppy!

Typical bike in Peru

Cute pig on our route

Boil this flower for a nice trip ;-)

Looking down on the river

Camp #2

3:30am wake up to get packed and get to the gate of Machu Picchu by 5:00am

She said YES!  Congrats Andy and Michelle!

Sunrise over Machu Picchu

Aguas Callientes:

Peru Rail

 

Some strange Peruvian dance in Aguas Callientes

We walked over railroad tracks with drops into the water .... don't miss the treads!

Pups everywhere - I thought this guy was going with  us!

Camp #3

Machu Picchu Day!

Huanu Picchu ... up or down, not sure!

Ming/Llama shot!

Just keep climbing

Did it!

We did and and now it's time to party!

Mushroom - or Mama Africa ....

Fabulous music!  Fund time!

Shot of Jose Cuervo for me!  Then some dancing!

Corpus Christi celebration

San Pedro Market

 Laura from Quebec - met in a cafe and she became our guide for the day :-)

Pedi's!

 Last day .... I miss everyone!  Me/Carly/Anna/Ming

 A little pampering for aching feet

 Strange idols filled with pisco sour

More strange bottles

Tiny streets ... remind me of home :-P

Finally had one in the airport ... yes, it tastes like bubblegum!

Ming and I at Mushroom

Carly and Anna at Mushroom