Travel

Astro-Not!

one Man Bunker
One Man Bunker

During our tour of all of the Mills (see prior post here) back on June 1st, one of the places we drove through is Wünsdorf. It’s not a very big place (about 6000 people), but played a key role in the Soviet v/s the US space race and the cold war.
The following is a rough translation of a German Wikipedia article Thanks to babelfish.

Wünsdorf saves a long militarily traditional history. In Wünsdorf was beside the partial headquarters underground put on of the OKH (Tarnbezeichnung: Maybach I) and OKW (Maybach II) from 1939 to 1945 settled in the message shelter zeppelin the office 500. Here it concerned one of the largest message junctions during the Second World War. These are protected by thick Panzertüren. Here also the first tanks, thickness Bertha and the V-weapon were tested.

After the war Wünsdorf became the seat of the supreme command of the group of the Soviet armed forces in Germany (after 1990 under the designation west’s group of the troops). Except the 2,700 inhabitants lived at point times 50,000 to 60,000 Soviet men, women and children there. For citizens of the GDR the area was restricted area. Within the fenced and/or ummauerten area numerous Soviet mechanisms were such as kindergartens, schools, business etc. after the departure of the Soviet armed forces 1994 developed the EWZ (development company forest city Wünsdorf/Zehrensdorf ltd.) the area on behalf the Brandenburgian federal state government. In the abandoned staff buildings numerous authorities were settled, among them the Brandenburgian office of a federal state for the regulation of open fortune questions and the Brandenburgian office of a federal state for care of monuments and archaeological federal state museum. The former barracks were converted mostly to houses, on free-vacated surfaces developed single family house areas and it local supply mechanisms, a primary school as well as kindergartens were established. These represent now together the municipality part of forest city.

Even today, the place is impressive- yet creepy. Why? Because there are abandoned bunkers and old traning facilities all over the town, and even the “new” modern buildings sit on top of what used to be part of the Soviet Air Defense plans:

Air Defense 2
Air Defense Bunker

I guess, among all the bunkers though, I was able to find a bit of humor. The reason is because all over town there were soviet era statues – Lenin, Stalin, etc. And then.. there was this priceless gem… which me laugh – because he is a Cosmonaut – (aka an Astro-NOT!) with highly detailed musculature:

Russian Cosmonaut Statue
Russian Cosmonaut Statue (talk about super abs!)

Ass-tro-not ( he's a cosmonaut)
Oh – by the way, did I mention the butt detail on the statue is “out of this world”.

More photos of the set are here.

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The Baroque in Rural NeuZille

Steeple and Sky

During our tour of all of the Mills (see prior post here) back on June 1st, Michael and I stopped for lunch at a place named Kloster Neuzille. This rural town is famous for two things – it’s Kloster brew beer (which was made by the monks in the 1400’s) and the Baroque church and gardens that are on the grounds of the monestary.

When you intially walk up, you basically have to pass a lovely pond covered with lilypads and little ducks with a nice view of the complex in the background. (The opposite side has cafes):

Kloster Neuzille & Pond
Cloister NeuZille Pond

Once you walk around the pond, you come up to the main entry of the complex, which looks relatively plain in yellow and white:

Kloster Neuzille complex
Cloister NeuZille complex from the outside

Thing is that the simple and relatively plain outside is rather decieving. Why? Because once you approach the doors – you recognize that these monks had lots of time and truly filled the church with magnificent carvings and artwork. A sample of the overpowering nature of the building (which made me think “how the heck do I photograph this and do it justice? Not sure that’s possible!” :

Entry Door
Entry Door Pattern

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Entry way Ceiling

Click these for full photo:
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Main Altar

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Looking back toward the Organ.

I finally decided to start focusing on the small pieces that made up the whole – to see if I could capture some of the beauty up close – as the entire details were too much.

Madonna with Sapphire crown & childCompass Rose inlay wall panelingSword of GoodReleased from Life

1: Madonna with Sapphire Crown & Child; 2: Inlaid Compass Rose Wall Panelling; 3: Sword of Truth; 4: Released from Life

From there, I went out to the gardens, and found that they were just as lovely:

Baroque Gardens NeuZelle
Baroque Garden Layout

as they were filled with roses, irises, and winding paths:

Orange & pink RoseIris and Baroque Garden

In the end, I came away feeling overwhelmed with the beauty, a knowledge of why this was added as a UNESCO world heritage site, and well, a feeling that no matter what, the Angels Support Us.

Angel(s) Support Us

Many More photos here – from not only the main closter, but the secondary (smaller) church next door (also Baroque).

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Howth (rhymes with Both) Ireland

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

In July I had a few days off, and found an inexpensive trip to a day spa / hotel just outside Dublin Ireland.  The town is called Howth (Rhymes with Both), and it’s on the North side of Dublin Bay. Pulling up through the gates by taxi, I was impressed

Howth Castle Gates

by a pair of lovely gray stone gates. On one side of me was the sweeping view of the bay and on the other, Howth Castle. We were going up the hill, to the Spa at Deer Park. When I got there and was checked in – there was a bottle of Champaign and a lovely dish of chocolate covered Strawberries waiting (A sure sign of a relaxing time to come):

Champaigne & Chocolate Strawberries

What I can say is that I’m glad to have taken several days enjoying the wonders of the spa and golf courses at Deer Park.  Even though I don’t golf, the area is lovely – lush and green – the courses being made on the old Castle Howth Grounds.

Howth Castle
Howth Castle

As I mentioned, the spa itself sits up on top of a hill – overlooking Dublin Bay on one side, (behind the castle below)

Howth Castle and Dublin Bay

and a pair of islands dedicated to bird sanctuary on the other (My room had a view over the golf course down to the islands).

The View out my Window

Unfortunately, while there, I managed to gunk up my main camera lens – which means that I didn’t get to take photos other than the first day.  While I did get it repaired in the city – I didn’t get it back until the day I was leaving.  So, I guess you could say I saw the sites, committed them to memory – and didn’t even get to take photographs of them all.  It’s a shame – but here’s a few that I did take (all from the first couple hours) are now online with a sampling below. ( my flickr set is here for more).

St. Mary's Church Howth
St. Mary’s Church – Howth (anglican)

St. Mary's Church & Roses
St. Mary’s Church Door with Roses

The Bloody Stream
The Bloody Stream (I admit I thought it said SCREAM) where I had a tasty dinner of tomato soup, crusty bread and pasta.(It’s right outside the train station)

Howth Marina & Lighthouse
Howth Marina and Lighthouse

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