Saturday, May 31, 2014

Day 11: Poland and Berlin


Today was a big day. We started early and drove in to Poland.

This river marks the border

crossing the boarder

a randomly pink bridge


that we ended up driving over

Polish countryside

street sign to the place we're headed




We went to the town of Muchten (Myszęcin) where the Janetzki's of Queensland originated.  We went to the church which originated as a Lutheran church but changed to Catholic in the 1800's encouraging the departure of the local Lutherans to other lands. Unfortunately the church is no longer in use and we couldn't go inside.

the home digs


very fittingly, Chris wore his "no place like home" shirt


the streets of Myszęcin


The church


walking in the steps of the ancestors




Janetzki's of Queensland back in the home town with the book


The steps and door that the ancestors frequented





A monument to the virgin Mary - proof that it became a Catholic church




Reading The Lutheran on his ipad


We saw the old lords place where daily labourers would have gone to get work. 

some rich guy's house and his walled off property


Likely the owner of the whole village

We went for a drive through the nearby city Swiebodzin where the Janetzki's would have gone for groceries. 

Swiebodzin in the distance (see the castle spire)


the castle of Swiebodzin

random Polish building

The streets of Swiebodzin


We had our obligatory beer and high-tailed it back to Berlin.







Mr Piggy ist betrunken!




A money exchange point on the border - used to be a security checkpoint


Once back in Berlin, we hired some fat tyre bikes and toured the city European style. We had a lot of fun and saw all the sites.
I got an orange bike!


The monument of Kaiser Wilhelm Church

on the inside of that ugly brown square building in the above photo


the organ


the baptismal


inside the original church foyer (ceiling)


Victory column from when the Germans united and beat the French

War memorial


The Brandenburg gate in the distance


a screaming woman - facing the Brandenburg gate

The gate in the background

The gate up close


Piggy had a great view all day


Reichstag - German Parliament building

A piece of the Berlin wall - at Checkpoint Charlie

A refreshing beverage break during our ride


A beer bar bike - 8 guys pedaling, a bar tender serving them beer and a driver steering as they explore the city

We found a Cabaret in Berlin - Life is a Cabaret old chum...

Piggy likes to make friends

Checkpoint Charlie


Checkpoint Charlie



A remaining section of wall

A decorated piece of the wall


Buildings around the Bebelplatz - where the book burning happened


Bebelplatz - unfortuneately they were setting up a concert or something


Bebelplatz


The Cathedral


Statues that are nude






We also managed to catch a vespers service at the cathedral.




Piggy, the forgotten reformer

it's a Lutheran cathedral





the dome in the ceiling



















Calvin

Melanchthon

Luther

Zwingli


To hear the organ and choir in the cathedral click here
To hear just the choir in the cathedral click here

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