Guelper See in Brandenburg, nearby Berlin - A Bird Sanctuary

Recently on the long weekend we've been to the Guelper See. The lake is around 70 km west from Berlin (district Havelland) and 660 ha big. It's a nature reserve, a bird sanctuary. Lots of birds are migrating there. There are also many different types of ducks which we never heard of before. Although we're not that much into birds, I really enjoyed hearing birds chirping just all the time.
We made a nice cycle tour and enjoyed the nature, just being in the country is so relaxing. I slept well and felt rested well. We also saw some other animals like horses, sheep, butterflies, mosquito. Yeah, well next time we'll go near a water body should remember to take some mosquito repellent. Of course like usual, the weather in Germany always keeps changing, but luckily we had almost no rain. Basically just on our way home.
Here some pics from our adventure on the cycles:

Near this area you'll find many storks. There were a few too and here's a Stork nest. We happen to see a stork flying to this nest. But we were too far to take a good picture.

Some more impressions of the trip:

What do Germans love to do in summer?

Yeahhh, 100 points if you said it: "Grillen". As soon as the first rays of sun come out and the temperature rises just a bit, THE Germans take out their barbecue equipment and go bananas on their balconies, in the garden, in a park, wherever possible. And also all sort of stuff can be put on the barbecue: of course various meat, sausages, barbecue cheese, fish, vegetables like corn, mushrooms, tofu spits, zucchini, and so much more.

A few weeks ago when finally some sun came out, even the cashier lady at my supermarket asked me if I would do barbecue on my balcony. And well, no we don't. And in fact just the last weekend was the first time in 2013 that we opened the "Grillsaison" at my parent's garden. And here some pictures:

And here meet the "Grillmeister"

 And at the same time the marinated chicken spits were done on the electric barbecue as well.

Normally you'll also find all kind of salads, bread and sauces or dips as well on a "Grillparty".
And then we enjoyed all this.

Puppet Theatre "Der Hase und der Igel"

As some of you know, I work in a kindergarten and I love theatre. So a while ago I found this great puppet theatre at my Kita and got the idea to show the kids a puppet play. I came up with the story of "The Hare and the Hedgehog" (oder "Der Hase und der Igel"). I got some felt and made these hand puppets. I used a hot glue gun to glue the felt together and out came some pretty puppets: A rabbit and a hedgehog man and hedgehog lady.

This is what they look like:

I took my idea from the children story and changed it here and there a bit to make it funny and interesting for the kids. In the the end of my story the rabbit doesn't die but rather he becomes friends with the hedgehogs and they'll share a big yummy ice cream.

Although it was a bit challenging to operate 3 puppets with 2 hands at the same time (when they are running the race), it worked quite well and was fun. I heard the kids laugh at the places I thought they would and talk to the puppets when it seemed appropriate. Surprisingly the kids sat quietly most of the time. This is usually a big challenge for them. 

Sorry didn't take any pictures of the puppet stage but here just the background with the hedgehog's house:

Tulips to pick

Driving along the B5 on our way to a little longer weekend trip we passed this beautiful tulips field. It's just at the entrance of  Ribbeck. Read about the sweet little place Ribbeck in a previous blog entry here

See an older post of mine when there were sunflowers to pick.
here


You pick the flowers yourself (knife provided) and leave the money in the box.

Colors of Spring

Yeah! Finally spring is here!

First of all, I have to apologize my dear readers, somehow I wasn't able to write for a while... busy, sick busy, sick.... seems like an vicous circle. So it's really helpful that the winter is over and spring is here although for a few days it was more summer than spring. Nature seems a bit confused.




The other day I read an article about the use to talk about the weather. Apparently  it helps people psychologically and is very useful. And Germans talk about the weather all the time. Mostly they complaint about it. Berliners are famous for complaining. However this winter I couldn't help complaining too. It seemed an awfully long winter, cold and dark.

Finally that the sun is out, Berliner enjoy the parks . And we're no exception. We've visited the Viktoriapark in the district Kreuzberg. This small hill Kreuzberg is 66 meter high and it's a lovely park.

 "In 1821 the Neoclassical Nationaldenkmal für die Befreiungskriege by architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel was inaugurated at the top of the 66 m (217 ft) promontory west of the road to Tempelhof, then known as Tempelhofer Berg or Runder Berg (i.e. Tempelhof or round hill). The king renamed the hill Kreuzberg after the Iron Cross (Eisernes Kreuz) at the top of the monument, in September 1921 it became the name giver of the Kreuzberg borough created by the 1920 Greater Berlin Act. The monument comprised only a small plot of land measuring about 2,839.83 m² (30,567.7 sq ft). The surrounding fields were private real estate." (source: wikipedia)

From the top you have a beautiful view. -  even up to Mitte.

The waterfall, which ran in 1893 for the first time, was empty today, no water .... Probably still too early and the water might be running in a few weeks time. The water has to be pumped up.

There is also a famous Biergarten called Golgatha (entrance via Katzbachstrasse) which can be very busy on sunny days or warm nights. A very gemuetlich Biergarten to watch the stars on clear nights while drinking a beer. We didn't get the time but you should check it out.
Here a few more impressions about the day: