Berlin Walking Tour: Nikolaiviertel, nearby Alexanderplatz to Am Lustgarten

If there is one thing Dutchman and I agree when travelling together... that would be WALKING. We both love to walk, a lot, except that he walks faster. While I tend to go astray, checking corners, peeking into alleys, a quick stop here, a long pause there. It is neverending. I cannot help myself really and I blame my point and click camera for this.

If I am retired now (wishful thinking I know) I would spend my days taking pictures of places, people and daily life on the streets. I have a quick eye and can right away see countless opportunities and angles to photograph. It gives me a sense of fulfillment being able to capture life, at least in my own way, style and interpretation. Sadly, I do not have the time to do this often because I have a demanding full-time job.

Apart from this (my real life world which clearly revolves around my career), photography, travelling and this blog are my breather. Like literally. They are my escape. I feel at home here.

Let me take you on a walking photo blog tour of a little part of Berlin. From Muhlendamm to Nikolaiviertel (Nikolai Quarter) to Spandauerstrasse to Alexanderplatz to Karl Liebknechtstrasse to Am Lustgarten.

Ready to go?

The view to Nikolaiviertel (Nikolai Quarter) and the Spree (river) from Muhlendamm (Mills Dam).

The Spree and the Berliner Dom.

Statues and gold details on the Ephraim-Palais on Muhlendamm.

Cosy Nikolai Quarter.

Nikolai Church and the Berlin bear.

Alexanderplatz, also called Alex by the locals.

Neptunebrunnen (Neptune Fountain).

The Rathaus (City Hall) and the Berliner Fernsehturm (TV Tower).

The Berliner Dom from the park on Spandauerstrasse.

The Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral).

On Karl Liebknechtstrasse.

Schlossplatz.

Altes Museum on Am Lustgarten.

Humboldt Box on Karl Liebknechtstrasse.

Alte National Gallery. Dutchman told me these could be bullet marks on the column.

Gourd in Tree

the morning glories weren't the only vine that grew up into a tree. I had a gourd vine grow up into one of my redbud trees. I knew the vine was growing up the tree but hadn't seen any gourd on it. The tree leaves hid the little gourds so well I didn't see them until they were quite large. About a foot tall. I hope the tree can handle the weight. They look like odd decorations hanging in the tree - about 5 in all. And I have about 20 more growing on the ground where they belong.

Ride Fast or Ride Far?

When I first started trying to increase the milage of my rides, I was advised to keep my average speed down on longer distances. "You can ride fast, or you can ride far," I was told. This advice seemed perfectly logical. The faster you ride, the sooner you'll get tired, right?



But my own experience stubbornly contradicted this piece of wisdom. I grew suspicious when, over the past two years, intentionally keeping my speed down only seemed to make me miserableon longer rides. So this summer I experimented. On some long rides I rode at whatever speed felt natural in the moment (whee!). On others I intentionally kept my speed in check. I felt better after the rides where I maintained a higher speed.



At first this discovery confused me. And then all at once, it made sense. The "fast or far" dichotomy fails to account for one crucial factor: time spent on the bike. Let's say you are doing a 100 mile ride. At an average rolling speed of 14mph, you will spend 7.14 hours on the bike. At an average rolling speed of 12mph, you will spend 8.33 hours on the bike. That's more than an hour of extra bike time! An entire extra hour of pedaling, of leaning forward, of gripping the handlebars, of chafing against the saddle. These things can wear you out just as much as the pedaling effort itself.



My point here is not that one should attempt a century ride with the zeal of a racer, but that it helps to look at a situation from multiple angles and to factor in your own strengths and weaknesses. As it turns out, I can ride faster than I've been giving myself credit. And as my body struggles to cope with longer times in the saddle, riding faster is getting me further. YMMV.

Unknown snake

Hubby accidentally ran over this snake with the bushhog last week. I came to the conclusion that it's a lot harder to identify snakes with no heads.

At first I thought he was a Cottonmouth, but the tail is wrong. (They have odd tails, which narrow down from the body somewhat abruptly.)

Anybody else know what it is?

Hubby said he remembered something about being able to tell whether it's a poisonous snake or not by the scales on the tail. So I took a picture of that.



Turns out he was right. At the tip end of the snake, if the scales are divided in two, like here, the snake is not poisonous. If the scale is unbroken all the way across, it is a poisonous snake.

Memory tip:
Two scales = two words: Non-venomous.
One scale = one word: Venomous.

Please post a comment if you know the identity of this snake! The part of him that was left was about 2.5 feet long. He was in some tall grass not far from a drainage ditch.

Rockslide

This is on the road to Jemez Springs. A few weeks ago there was a rockslide from this ridge. You can see the lighter color where the rocks slide down the ridge. There is the house on the left and another hid in the trees at the bottom of the ridge. I took photos from a parking lot across the road where a small store is. That must have been a lot of noise and very scarey for those living there. On the left side of the photo on the second layer of rock ledge there was a small slide about 20 years ago. We noticed it when we drove up one day and the scar was still fresh then.

The Southerner's return to ice

Day 1 (Saturday)What a weekend! Hope everyone got out to enjoy the current fatness. Ice climbing conditions were perfect in the Laurel Highlands. Longtime climbing friend Matt Johns finallymade the drive up from Kentucky for some ice climbing. It'd been about 9 or 10 years since Matt has climbed ice. For many years the conditions seemed to have thwarted all attempts Matt has made to come climb ice. Well this was the year.Laura and I were in need of another restday andMatt needed a slight refresher on the art of ice climbing. Schoolhouse was our destination for Saturday. After a delicious breakfast at Valley Dairy, we drove to Ohiopyle. The road into Mitchell parking hadn't been plowed so we had to park at the main parking area in town andsnwoshoe 4 miles into the climb. Matt's an adventurous guy and Laura likes to hike so we decided it was a nice way to spend the day.Laura and Matt starting the day. Photo TA

We set off from the parking area and the going wasn't bad the first 1.75 miles. Snowmobiles hadbeen down the rail trail packing the snow and making for easy travels. Stopped by a downed tree, the easy goingended there. Breaking trail in the deep snow was the norm the rest of the way. I was pulling Laura's and my gear on a sled and Matt was packing his own. It took about 2 hrs for us to reach the crag. I had been worried about the ice conditions with all the sun beating down.Matt and Laurahad slowed down a good bit in the final 1/2 mile push to the climb. He was very excited upon his arrival at the cliff. We found the ice in snowcone condition. I quickly geared up and climbed the route. I belayed Matt up as Laura took some photos.

Matt had a good time seconding the climb and getting back onto ice after so manyyears. We left it rigged on the shuts and walked down. We took turns climbing thequickly deteriorating ice. We finished up a little before 3 o'clock. Whilepacking up our gear Dr. Bob and Regina camewalking up thetrail to the cliff.We briefly chattedthen let themget to climbing as the routedidn't appear that it would be climbablemuch longer.Surprisingly the hike outfelt a little better than the hike in.At one point Laura hopped on thesledwith all the gear to take the easy way out. She was grinning ear to ear duringher 1/2 mile of sleighing through the woods.She was surprised I could manage the load and her. It was the least I could do since I didn't get hera valentines present this year.At the car we snapped a photo and made our way to dinner atTall Cedars in Donegal. We all agreed that the day was a lot offun. The weather was warm and it was great to getMatt on the elusive route. Remember Matt, the cliff is always 10min. away!

Laura climbing Flying Dutchman. Photo TA

One of many bent trees on the way out. Photo LH

Laura's viewon the Schoolhouse shuttle. Photo LH

The happy crew

The southerner says -mmmmmm good eatin'. Sneak photo LH

Day 2 (Sunday)We enjoyed our "casual day" Saturday saving our energy for a climbfest on Sunday. We met Joel Torretti, Dr. Bob, Regina, Mike, and Kenny atanother local cliff. I think Matt was impressed at his first sighting of the crag. We stopped at the top and I pointed out the different lines while Laura took some pics.Matt & I checking out the routes. Photo LH

We made our way down to the climbs. Matt and I decided to start the day on Called on Account of Security. It was in thebest conditions I've ever climbed it. The normal mixed start was buried under about 12' of snow. It was still thin through the bottom, with a huge middle pillar and a slightly thin finish. It was a lot of fun.



The super fat middle of Called on Account of Security WI4. Photo LH

Matt Johns seconding Called on Account of Security. Photo LH

Laura was giving Joel a belay on G Gully. He led the initial pillar and threaded off.Mike and Kenny did the same on the Central left pillar. Ropes were left on all the lines while we all took turns climbing each of the lines. After our warm ups, Joel racked upfor theline he tried last week. He quickly made his thread and pushed up the nextstep to below the crux. He went upto thecrux,poked around a bit and backed down to the rest stance. This happened severaltimes before commiting to the moves. He worked up through on thethird try, placing several screws and looking solid.He did a great job of keeping it together and finishing what he startedthe week ago. Congrats on the send Joel! What's it called?



Joel Torretti on his new unamed line. Photo LH

My goal for the weekend was to get back onmy attempted routefrom Valentines day.Regina and Bobfinishedup on Called on Account of Security andit was "Go Time"The route looked slightly better or should I say "wetter" than last weekend. Some new blue ice graced the top of the climb concealing the V threads from the week before, all the while making the final bulge abit bulgier.The water was really running on the route. Temps were on the rise and I wasn't sure if I would get another shot next weekend or even the rest of the season.I figured it might be my last chance. I tied in and started up the route with Matt on the catch.



A cool perspective of me startingup the route. Photo LH

Climbing through one of the earlier crux sections. Photo LH

I found the climbing to feel a tad easier than the previous week. Still very commiting, but not as much work clearing the rotten shit as I had on last Sunday's attempt. Knowing the route, I utilized all the possible rests andthings went well (except for dropping my lucky BD stubbie in the snow. Gone forever!)



Finishing up the FFA of World of Pain WI 5+ Photo LH

Matt instilled great confidence as my belayer. I placed nowhere near the number of screws as the week before.Pulling the final bulge and not being pumped gave me a great sense of accomplishment. I placed an anchor screw, clippedin and relaxed.The view from the top was sweet.In a fine show of style Matt offered Laura to second mysend. ThanksMatt!She didincredible showingsmooth, effortless climbing.Matt was 3rd up the line doinga great job and enjoying the climb. I'm gladmy sweetie and old buddywere in on my send.



Laura seconding World of Pain. Photo MJ

"The Southerner" Matt Johns enjoying SWPA ice. Photo LH

Mike led The Awakening with Kenny as the last lineof the day. We hiked out to the cars satisfied as the day was drawing to a close.With some luck and cold weather we'll get in another weekend of climbing.