Berlin first visit

I enjoyed Berlin and Potsdam by bike.

It cost 1.8€ and took 30 minutes with the airport bus TXL from Berlin Tegel airpot to the city center (Unter den Liden/Friedrichstrasse). It cost 3.4€ and took 29 minutes with RE1 from Friedrichstrasse (or Hauptbahnhof) to Potsdam hauptbahnhof. It cost 3.1€ and took 50 minutes with RE22 from Potsdam hauptbahnhof to Schönefeld airport. http://www.berlin.de/en/tourism/travel-information/4290081-2862820-route-planner.en.html

I got a free bike rental from Riverside Hotel via booking.com. I enjoyed the view over the river Spree and the Weidendammer bridge. My way - no alarm in the morning; strawberry from the supermarket; departure to the next destination when I felt like (, even if it is the time in stead of the day).

I bicycled along the river and the channal, I visited almost every part in the Tiergarten. I visited the dome of the Reichstag building, the museum island, Holocaust Memorial and Berlin Wall Memorial, also East side gallery. I visited Berlin city library, passed by two universities, three cemeteries, several parks and many statues.

I saw "The One" Grand Show at Friedrichstadt-Palast. What was incredible was that I could buy the best seat (row4, seat 34) just four days in advance. 

I would like to take a boat tour on river Spree, and I got/made my chance. The last scheduled tour was at 16:30. Efter a whole day bike-riding I passed the boat 17:50. The sign said "next tour 18:00" and the staff said the boat would go only if there are at least 10 passengers. At that time there were only 5 other people waiting. I encouraged them to pray for more people to come, I found the sign was not tightened so I could turn it around to all the directions. Two people stopped by our side. The staff came to the sign and said to me "Sorry, we can not go as there are not 10 passengers". When she was changing the next departure time to 18:30, then came our wanted two passengers. One hour leisure time on the river Spree with start 18:00. The first 5 passengers were excited and thanked me. :-)

Potsdam is beautiful. I decided to visit it when I saw its location on the map. A bike tour along the lakes and in the parks is highly recommended. My bike was from Pedales at Potsdam Main Station. 

Thanks Anne and Rau at Riverside. Thank God.

Meetup again

Thanks for a wonderful day. On Sunday 19 March I participated in a hike on Gällnö with the Meetup group "Stockholm Hiking & Outdoors Group". It was just great.

 

14 glad people went 14 kilometers on the island. Sun, sea and nice chats. Bus, boat and beautiful sunset. Kat from Germany said to me,"Thank you so much for your recommendation of skating. I have tried it, it is just amazing. I will do the course also." Daniel from Barcelona is out and hiking every weekend. Roman from Stockholm may take a doctoral education in China. 

 

"Gällnö is for those who want to experience how the archipelago was once, with well-preserved buildings and open spaces. Tended by a thriving agricultural community, this is one of the archipelago’s best-preserved cultural landscapes, with its fields, meadows and smooth glacial rocks. Gällnö has a population of thirty and in the small village there is a craft shop, café and bar, which is open during the summer, an exhibition of the island’s cultural history and rowing boats to hire." http://skargardsstiftelsen.se/omrade/gallno/karta/

https://www.meetup.com/naturen

"If you like this hike, you may organize the next hike". Why not? some a day. :-)

Send a smile

Do you feel good when seeing these flowers? I do. 

For a  couple of weeks ago I saw some beautiful flowers in the office on my way out shortly after I read an email from a friend. I became glad to see the flowers, and got an idea to take a picture of the flowers and send to the friend. I did it and she liked it too.

Today I saw some new flowers in the office and it made me think of my friend. So I took a picture of the flowers and sent to her. I like to see the picture, so I sent it to another couple of friends too. :-)

Solar energy helicopter

I visited the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for the first time, listened to  "A Complete Artificial Photosynthesis: Fuels from Sunlight, Air and Water", an Open Academy Lecture by Daniel Nocera, the Patterson Rockwood Professor of Energy at Harvard University. Thanks!  http://www.kva.se/en/

The professor talked very clearly and showed very good illustrations. I like the idea. I am not good at chemitry, not good at English, but enjoyed the lecture even though I did not understand much details. It's like I can enjoy a nice concert even if I do not understand the music. :-)

What's the difference between the better cities and the other cities? the lectures. 

I have always liked to build a solar energy helicopter.