Category Archives: Travel Tales

Working Our Way Around The World as Ad Lib Artisans

I’m proud to announce that the new website for our around-the-world building, decoration, and renovation company, AD LIB ARTISANS, is now live at http://www.adlibartisans.com

Please enjoy the FIVE galleries which are full of pictures of our work on various projects in England, France, Scotland, Germany, and Australia.

Mark enameling custom cabinetry that he built in a period home in London

In a future post I will explain how this work has allowed us to work our way across the world over the last 10 and 1/2 months!

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©Deborah Harmes and ©A Wanderful Life
Please respect the words and images on this page.
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Photo Of The Day: London Cycle Network Sign

London is proud of its status as a cycle friendly city — and these signs seen in the heart of the financial district attest to that encouragement to be more eco-conscious by getting out of a car and onto a bike.

London Cycle Network sign in the heart of the financial district.

London Police Come Out Again

An English summer brings to mind sandwiches and cold drinks, barbeques in the back garden, leisurely days by the seaside or amidst the green and rolling countryside. And we mustn’t forget the bright pink skin from too much sun on too pale skin. Instead, the summer of 2011 is going to be remembered, particularly in London, for being the year of the riots and for being cold and wet and distinctly un-summer-like.

Emerging from our semi-housebound state (work commitments have kept us tucked up inside), we relished the opportunity to get out into the sunshine with cotton clothing on instead of the cashmere cardigans that have been our friends for months. So on this bright and sunny Saturday, we ventured a few train stops away to go to the markets at Spitalfields and Brick Lane.

Liverpool Street Station exterior on a bright and sunny day.

The sight of London’s police force out in great numbers was a bit jarring as we emerged from the Liverpool Street Station and heard the shouting crowds in the distance. Whole streets were closed off to pedestrians and vehicles alike and we could see — no exaggeration — hundreds of uniformed officers in every direction. According to the late coverage in The Guardian, “EDL London march halted by police”, approximately 3,000 members of the police were in attendance at several key locations in the East End.

Barricaded streets in London during EDL march on Saturday, 3 September 2011.

And the reason for all of this police presence? The EDL — English Defence League, a white supremacy group, was marching in force in the East End and we could certainly hear the roaring and chanting both for and against these people. I lingered long enough to take a few pictures, but we thought it best to keep moving in case the situation degenerated into the kinds of violence that we all lived through in early August.

Strong police presence to deter violence at EDL march on Saturday, 3 September 2011.

Police in London waiting calmly as EDL white supremacy group marches through East London.

There was a calm sense of purpose on the faces of those uniformed men and women — orderly and matter of fact. It’s an odd thing to comment on, but London has been rather turbulent lately so it is comforting to think that there are enough law enforcement folks nearby to keep any potential violence in check.

London policeman quietly watching the streets and people.

Tomorrow will be a pleasant change of pace — a story about the colourful areas of Spitalfields and Brick Lane and I’ll have photos galore to show you that vibrant and fun part of London.

Come back soon!

Vroom-vroom!!! Berlin’s Luftwaffe Museum – Part 3

In an oft-told story about my childhood, I heard from my parents that I began flying as a passenger in our small single-engine airplane when I was a mere 6 weeks old. And yes, I threw up whilst in flight. Ah well — a lifetime of motion sickness began just then!

My fascination with aircraft has lingered throughout the years and I prefer the old-fashioned propeller planes over the jets any day. So our visit to the Luftwaffe Museum in Berlin filled my heart and my eyes with joy.

There were aircraft that I had only seen in history books — and frankly, it was thrilling to be close enough to touch them. I had seen a biplane with a metal propeller when I was a little girl, but not a plane with a wooden propeller such as the one below.

Biplane with wooden propeller

And can you even imagine returning to earth in a glider and landing on the snow or the grass in a fragile vehicle equipped with rather primitive-looking wooden ski?

Lightweight glider with wooden skis

This is a huge museum and it takes hours to go through — but it is well worth the time if you have an interest in contemporary history. We barely made a dent in viewing the rows and rows of planes which were on display outside and concentrated instead on the historic examples within the vast hangers. But a friend told us that a thorough visit might be best accomplished on a bicycle so that we could weave in and out amongst the decades of planes that lined the old runways. You can see a few of them if you look to the left of the yellow-tipped propeller below.

Yellow-tipped propellers on old German warplane

I certainly hope you have enjoyed this 3-part series and that it might inspire you to visit this fascinating museum.

COPYRIGHT
©Deborah Harmes and ©A Wanderful Life
Please respect the words and images on this page.
All rights are reserved.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

We’ve just arrived in the Pyrenees and I wanted to show you how far we drove over a 3 day period. We didn’t encounter quite as much road construction as in Germany on the weekend, but we added quite a few hours to our overall trip by not choosing to drive on the 130 km per hour motorways that have tolls.

Map of regions in France

We both wanted to get a feel for the different regions of France, so we spent about 50% of the drive weaving through the gorgeous small towns. It was a stunning introduction to rural France since we have both travelled only within and around Paris previously.

Starting in Strasbourg up in Alsace on Monday, we made it to the Rhone Alps that night. We drove through the mountains for most of the day on Tuesday (some really big climbs!) and that night was spent in Languedoc. The driving was quite a bit flatter today and we arrived in the Midi-Pyrenees this evening.

Those were LONG driving days! Off to sleep I go!

Berlin – With Earplugs In Place!

Working our way around Europe, being very frugal, living like a local, interacting almost exclusively with each local population, and being prepared to be a bit inconvenienced at times was always firmly in our minds.

Deborah's temporary office nook

We knew when we left Australia in December and then the comfort of the family home in Norfolk, England (that we have been using as our European base), we would need to maintain a good sense of humour and the ability to live in flow.

Also, if we were going to have this long-planned trip work out well and since Europe is not exactly a budget location for travel, we’d need to find ways to stretch the euros — hence the working along the way scheme. So far, so good.

So — alright already!!! I’m living in a very noisy flow!!! And here is exactly where I am sitting as I write this post — on a white plastic garden chair in the corner of our temporary kitchen.

Here in Berlin, in addition to having a wonderful time seeing this gorgeous city, we are helping our friend Stefan to renovate the house that he has purchased and which he hopes to be moving into in 4 weeks time. Fingers are firmly crossed on that one right now because most of the house still looks like a bomb site!

This will be a beautiful place once it is complete since the rooms are spacious and there is so much light flooding in from the front and back.

It’s the traditional European style of construction — thick masonry block walls covered with brick or render on the outside and hard plaster on the inside. And it is spread out over 5 levels. You’d never guess from the outside (which looks just fine!) what is going on within. So here below is a little peek at what will need to get resolved in the next few weeks if Stefan is going to move in as planned. CLICK on the photos to enlarge.

Rubble in one of the bedrooms

Mark checking the stability of a crumbling wall

Mark and Stefan discussing the renovation

Crumbling door frame

Crumbling entry door area

I am listening to a house FULL of contractors right now — the 2 or 3 electricians, the 2 plasterers, and the 3 heating contractors plus my husband Mark. All of the hard surfaces that this house is constructed of just echo any noise again and again.

It was a little bizarre to be sound asleep at 8:30 this morning with earplugs in and hear 3 voices open the door and say, “Ooops!” I kept my eyes shut tight, they closed the door, and I raced to the bathroom to quickly put some clothes and wash my hair in the sink (with not very warm water) before they turned off all of the water to move the pipes around before installing the new radiators.

We’ve had 2 days of very cloudy weather and the solar panels are not getting enough charge to heat the water in the huge tank up to nice-and-hot. Hence the lukewarm showers and hair washing. However, Mark has had instructions today in the art of oil-furnace back-up water heating. Sheesh!!! It’s quite an interesting contraption!

Right now I can hear normal drills, electrical sanders, trowels against hard plaster, the tapping of chisels, a hammer drill, and hammers — not to mention the sound of heavy feet as those fellows clunk their way up and down the stairs to all 5 levels of the house. I have my orange earplugs in, too!!! The whole house is vibrating with sounds and it’s making my heart race quite a bit.

At least at night it is beautifully peaceful and we sleep well. The neighbourhood is incredibly silent once darkness falls. A temporary small ‘apartment’ has been created out of 3 rooms up on the top floor and that’s where we are living for now.

We eat dinner, have a bath in the huge bathtub (not pictured), and then cuddle up side-by-side to watch a movie. Fortunately I have enough movies and British television shows in my computer to keep us occupied since there isn’t enough light in the bedroom to read by.

Late today the electricians are doing the final-fix (at least I hope that they are!) of the outlets and then perhaps we can have some lamps on in the evening instead of just one lamp and some tealight candles.

But at least it’s atmospheric with the candlelight. We are very relaxed once everyone leaves and we certainly have a sense of humour about it all!

Temporary bedroom setup

Temporary kitchenette

Blue bathroom - partially crumbling bu functional

Berlin Bonfire Night – Funkenfeuer

Last night was Easter Eve and it was also Bonfire Night – Funkenfeuer – in Berlin. We didn’t know what to expect but our friend Stefan told us we’d all have a good time. And he was SO right!

The bonfire or Funkenfeuer marks the end of Lent. But since I have read about quite a lot of such festivities during my years of graduate degree research, this one is definitely a pagan-origin ceremony that has been ‘absorbed’ into Christian tradition.

We followed Stefan down the pathway through the grass (Stefan is in the red jacket on the right — turning back to look at us) and we could soon hear and see the throngs of people who had arrived earlier.

Off to see the bonfire with Stefan

The sun was low in the sky as we made our way through the crowds, but the first of the large bonfires had already been lit and was blazing away. Hundreds of people milled around, eating barbeque or salads or sweets and drinking the plentiful beer on tap.

Bonfire night just before sunset

The first bonfire is now well under way

We ate delicious roast pork sandwiches, drank beer, watched the fire for awhile, and then Stefan and Mark stood in the eerie blue glow of the beer stand to get another beer.

Barbeque in Germany

Stefan and Mark in the line to purchase a beer

The second bonfire was lit as darkness descended and it was even more dramatic than the first one had been since it was now silhouetted against the black skies. As I edited the photos this morning, it was easy to understand how mankind in a more primitive time period could have ‘seen’ visions of dragons or eerie figures dancing atop the flames against the inky backdrop of the night sky. I certainly see them in the last 2 photos below!

We may all be more ‘civilized’ nowadays, but the powerful allure of an enormous bonfire still answers some primitive song which is echoing in our hearts.

SUNDAY NIGHT POSTSCRIPT
Although the term Funkenfeuer is apparently technically correct, our Stefan told us tonight that he had never called it by that term and had always heard it called simply “Easter Fire.”

Bonfire in the Berlin suburbs

Bonfire in Berlin