SEPTEMBER

In Spring 1991 Hart's sister took us to ITALY, spending Easter in the Tuscany.

Florence and Venice were just so beautiful and Pisa was nice too.  

 

 AUGUST

In July 1987 we went on a holiday in ALASKA

We hired a car and travelled for 10 days from Anchorage up north past the Arctic Circle. We could sleep in the hire car and since we had brought with us our basic camping gear, we could travel just as we wanted. 

Driving past Fairbanks on the narrow rough Northern Road with so many huge truck speeding along delivering supplies to the towns on the Arctic Ocean whilst the road was open during the few warmer ice free month had its challenges. Camping on the banks of Yukon River was awesome. A long walk along a glacier became scary when suddenly we could see only ice all around us. The highlight was the time in Mt. McKinley Park (later named Denali National Park). There we saw bears close by, heard wolf hauling not far away, even saw a fight between a wolf and a caribou, both mortally wounded. We stayed only once in a motel right at the end of our trip to clean up after a 1500 mile/2400km journey, to return the car, and get on the plane to visit our family in Berlin.

  JULY

Another stop-over was the UAE in 2013. And that was a very exciting experience to see a so very different society, even if only for 4 days as a sightseeing tourist. The many amazing buildings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi were breathtaking.

                                                    Burj Khalifa the tallest building in the world: 828m high 

the Sheikh Zayed Mosque

 JUNE

The school where Hart was teaching had a sister relation with a school in Tokyo.

 So in 1987 we went there for a one week visit to arrange an exchange. We stayed with the family of a teacher and a long friendship developed. Sightseeing with a person living there was the best way to get to know a place.   

   

 

  MAY 

We have visited China a few times.

In 1972 we went to Hong  Kong for the first time, a stop-over on our way to Berlin. It was only a few days to get duty free things. 

And again in 1981.

In 1985, just when China opened its borders to foreign visitors, we went for one week over Easter to Beijing. The Communist regime was still dominating every aspect of life. 

                                                               Tiananmen Square 
                                                                                                                                                                             

Chairman Mao Mausoleum 

 in the Forbidden City, the Emperor’s Palace

Tempel of Heavenly Peace

                                                                                     Chinese Wall                                                                           

In 2010 we spend 4 days as a stop-over again in Shanghai. 

The People’s Park

and a Contemporary Art Gallery right in the middle of it.

How much China has changed.