A Relaxing Day 2 in Berlin - Taking it Easy and Doing What Berliners Enjoy Doing

The Berlin Cathedral, Berlin, Germany

For our second day in Berlin, we changed our booking and moved into the Bristol Hotel.

We visited the Berlin Cathedral dome located on Museum Island in the Mitte Borough.

The Berliner Dom

The Berlin Cathedral also known as the Berliner Dom was completed in 1905.

It is Berlin's largest and most important Protestant church.

It was another hot day in Berlin!

Some people dipped their feet into the fountain in front of the Cathedral.

We did too and it felt good dipping our feet into the water to cool off!

The Museum Island is a beautiful area with a number of museums, grand buildings, statues, gardens and columns

We would love to spend time enjoying and learning from each museum on the island.





























But we could not afford spending too much time going into the museums as we had other activities in mind.

From the Museum Island, we strolled along a bridge and crossed to the other side.




















Lots of people were having drinks, relaxing on lawn chairs and enjoying the sunny afternoon by the river.























This was our preferred activity!

I am a firm believer of the saying :When you are in Rome, do what the Romans do. 

We did what Berliners obviously enjoy doing - having a beer outside with friends and families, a simple pleasure which we enjoyed tremendously as well. 

While we were enjoying some cold German beer and the fine weather by the river, I looked up and saw the trains speeding above us with the shops and stores below.

I couldn't help but amazed at how Berliners have made such excellent use of their spaces in their city.

















We explored the city more on foot and got to the Hackescher Market.

Hackescher Market, Berlin

We were pleasantly surprised to find a good variety of choices of food available for purchase at the market.

Middle Eastern food seemed to be popular in Berlin. Rush for time,  we ordered some Donner sandwiches from the market.

We took the train back to our new hotel by 8:30pm.

It was a hot day in Berlin with searing temperature!



It felt so good to cool off in the pool!  We had not spent time swimming together for a long time.

J. was really good, trying to encourage S. to regain his confidence in the pool. S. did try and stayed close to the edge of the pool.

Though we have often stayed in nice hotels with swimming pools, we rarely take advantage of the hotels' facilities as we tend to rush all over the city trying to visit all the attractions.

This time, J. taught us to take it easy and enjoy our hotel stay. We stayed in the pool for an hour. It was lovely!

R.T.
Berlin, Germany

Getting a Hotel Refund from Booking.Com - An Important Reminder for North American Travelers to Berlin, Germany in Summer Months

Our first hotel was in an excellent location but without air con.

We have booked our first three days staying at the MEININGER Hotel  Berlin Hauptbahnhof. However,  the weather was unprecedentedly hot at the time.  Without air conditioning in the hotel, the rooms, the hotel lobby and eating area were very hot.  Due to the high temperatures, even the ice machine and the pop machine in the hotel were not able to function.  

I went to ask the front desk for a fan for our room but they had no fans to loan out to hotel guests and told us there was nothing they could do.  It was a hot hot evening in Berlin and difficult for us to fall asleep . We were surprised  that the hotel which did not have air conditioning also seemed to be totally unprepared to provide their guests with any fans to cool the air in their rooms.

The room was hot;  we could not sleep another night at the hotel. Since the hotel required us to pay in full up front upon checking in, we needed our refund for the remaining two nights. In the middle of the night and unable to sleep, I sent an email to Booking.com informing them of the problem, asking them to cancel the other two nights and refunding us the rest of the amount.

Early next morning, I received Booking.com's reply agreeing to refund us if the hotel was OK with it. I appreciated their speedy response and understanding. We went down to the front desk and  talked to the front desk receptionist who initially told me this could not be done as our stay was non refundable.  I asked to speak to the manager who was polite and agreed to a refund.

Our hotel was a stone throw away from the train station in Berlin

Leaving our hotel earlier was unfortunate as the hotel is in an excellent location and would have been extremely convenient for us.










 But we simply could not sleep another night. Having a good night of sleep was important to us during our vacation.

We have learned the following when traveling in Germany and other European countries during the summer months:

-  Read the hotel descriptions carefully to ensure that the ones we are booking have air-conditioning.  
   This is important for American and Canadian tourists as we take air conditioning for granted since it is a standard feature in our hotels / motels on our side of the continent.

Thank you to Booking.com and the MEININGER Hotel  Berlin Hauptbahnhof for giving  us a refund without too many red tapes. We appreciated it and definitely would use your service again when booking in cooler months! 

R.T.
Berlin, Germany
Traveling during the week of July 31, 2018

Spending Our First Hot Day in Berlin, Germany!

Our hotel was right behind the Berlin Hauptbahnhof Train Station

We landed in the Berlin airport after a seven hour flight on Air Canada!

In Toronto, many travelers hail taxis from the airport to their houses which would normally cost  between Can.$ 60 - 100.00 depending on where the person lives in the city.

However, we have heard the transportation system is well developed in Europe, therefore, we planned to take the public transport as much as possible on this trip.

The Hauptbahnhof Station - a modern and beautiful station in Berlin 

We were impressed at how easy and reasonable the public bus was going from the Berlin Airport to our downtown hotel. We took the TXl to our hotel. 

( The bus fare was only 2.8 Euros / person!)  Tired and with a few pieces of luggage with us, we decided to take a taxi to our hotel. We were unaware that our hotel was just right behind the train station!

We had our first meal at a Berlin restaurant inside the train station

J. has already checked in resting at the hotel. It was so good to see him! 


















We ate dinner at a restaurant in the train station, spending time to catch up with one another. 

He looked tired and jet-lagged

We enjoyed our time together and the food was good!

We also liked our hotel as it was located in an excellent location.










We  could easily walk to a few attractions.

Berliners relaxing by the river on a hot summer evening.

 After dinner, we walked across a bridge passing by many Berliners relaxing on lawn chairs by the river

















We also walked by a few grand buildings including the Reich Stag.

















It was a lovely evening, we lied on the grass enjoying the summer breezes and fell sleep for a few moments.













It was a rare moment for the three of us relaxing together on a summer evening.
It was an excellent way to start our European vacation in Berlin! 

J. also took us to the Brandenburg Gate where for over forty years, divided Germany into east and west right at that location. ( I took some pictures there with my cell but could not find them later.)

Though we did a lot of walking for our first day in Berlin, I was anxious to give him the presents we brought him. As soon as we went back to the hotel, we asked him to open them. However, we wish we had listened to him and bought his gift at the Canada Computer Store rather than from Best Buy.  J. pointed out to us about the poor screen quality on the machine. Well, we live and learn every day!

R.T.
Berlin, Germany
Day 1
p.s. My laptop did not work after the first night we landed in Europe, therefore unable to post until now.

Meeting a Nice Young Man on Route to Europe on an Air Canada Flight!

Day 1 of  Our Holiday

We are on the move again!

This time to Europe! Our flight was delayed for 2 1/2 hours at the Pearson International Airport in Toronto.  Air Canada was good enough and gave each passenger a  $15.00  meal voucher. Using our boarding pass, we were able to purchase food at one of the airport restaurants.

We enjoy travelling! It gives us the opportunities to meet people and learn new things.

We boarded an Air Canada flight at the Pearson International Airport, Toronto 

On our flight to Europe, I met a young man, M., sitting by a window seat, reading a book named the Twelve Rules of Life.  Many pages in the book were marked by numerous yellow stickies at the top.

Always looking for a good read,  I asked him how he liked the book.

He replied, “Amazing! This book is by Jordon Peterson, a professor at  the University of Toronto.  My girl friend gave me this book as a gift. She read the whole book and marked the pages for me.”

Wow, what a wonderful girl friend!   M. is a friendly chap and we had a good chat. I learned that he is starting school in Berlin and is looking forward to travelling in Europe for the next little while.

Life is fun, and adventurous! If we are friendly,  open and willing to take risks of starting conversations with strangers, we can learn from them.

We are looking forward to visiting a few European cities in the next two weeks!

R.T.
Pearson International Airport
Toronto
July 30, 2018

Celebrating J's Birthday at the Kids' Town Water Park, Scarborough, Ontario

It was a nice hot day in Toronto, a perfect day to have a birthday party cerebration in a water park!

J., our favourite little boy celebrated his  seven year old birthday today and we were invited to share the fun and joy with his family and friends on a Saturday afternoon.





It was years ago since I brought a group of children from the summer camp to come here. I forgot how much fun this park offers to kids and adults alike!

The funniest part in the Kids Water Park is the big bucket.

It is filled up with water every few minutes and tips over and pours the water over the people below.

The Big Bucket spilling water on kids at the Kids Town Water Park, Scarborough, Ontario.

Kids just love running in and out of the big bucket area getting soaked by it as cold water spills over everyone below.




The Kids Town Water Park opens from 10:30am - 7:30pm from June until the Labour Day long weekend.

The Kids Town Water Park is located on 3159 Birchmount Road in Scarborough, Ontario, south of Steele Ave at Birchmount and McNicole.

On the Saturday I went to the park, I forgot my GPS and drove past the park. Once when you have gone past the park, it is not easy to find as there are no street numbers showing on the houses until a long way away.

J. blowing the candles on his birthday cake at his party at Kids' Town Water Park

Though it took me sometime to find the water park, it was well worth the efforts!

It is a great place for families on a hot summer day. The best part about the park - It is FREE admission! Where else can you find a beautiful park with so much to do for kids for free these days?

Happy Birthday, J.!

R.T.
Kids' Town Water Park
Scarborough, Ontario

Seniors Discovering Their Artistic Talents at the 105 Gibson Centre's Senior Summer Day Camp

Participants in the senior camp expressed their thoughts about the program in this display at 105 Gibson Centre 

We have always sent our children to day camp in the summer ; it is a rites of passage in North
American - kids and summer camp.  I know that kids have a lot of fun at camp. How about the adults, the seniors? Can they not have fun just like the children? 

The Senior Day Camp is assisted by an army of volunteers

While I was pondering over these questions,105 Gibson Centre has been offering such a day camp for seniors around 2016. The senior day camp at 105 Gibson is an excellent program.

My Mom trying her hands at painting for the first time at the Senior Day Camp

It runs two days a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the month of July and August of 2018.

Many seniors from our community are enjoying the program tremendously

The program starts at 10am in the morning running until 3pm in the afternoon.  

The morning program includes some gentle stretching exercises, workshops on health and nutrition. The afternoon program include group sharing followed by a hot lunch, then crafts,  movies and afternoon snacks etc.

This summer senior day camp is run by a team of staff and an army of dedicated volunteers.

I encouraged my mom to sign up for the July day camp. The first couple of times when I picked her up from 105 Gibson Centre,  I was excited  to see what she was doing at camp.

















My mom is a shy person and it was so nice for me to see her busy painting, working on her craft projects, interacting with other seniors and having fun!











Many seniors are enjoying the arts and crafts program as they are discovering their hidden talents in this area.

A  big thank you to Rev. Jonathan Chan, Pastor Monica, the staff and volunteers of 105 Gibson Community Centre for their dedication, commitment and efforts in looking after the seniors in our community and for creating wonderful programs for them!

R.T.
Senior Day Camp at 105 Gibson Centre
105 Gibson Centre
Markham, Ontario