A Lefkadian New Year

Well, its a howling gale outside. The wind speed indicator on the boat is occasionally nudging 50 knots, and all the boats are alean. Its New Year's Eve in Lefkas, and its a boomer. Donner and Blitzen are definitely grounded, but we are well past their use-by date anyway.

A homespun Christmas wreath

Rather than decking the halls, we're hauling the decks with wreaths of holly. Fa la la...

 Christmas in the marina was a lovely affair. Some of the keener celebrants decorated their vessels in the Christmas spirit. Pavlov retained her somewhat indifferent facade. Up until now, the weather has been a mild and balmy 15 degrees during the day. We've taken lots of walks, bird watching with Anne and Gordon, and bike rides around the 'burbs.

A calm day in the bay

Lefkas, rolling in sunshine.

We watched some interesting Christmas traditions in Lefkas. Children have license to bang a triangle and demand money from all the local shops and passer-bys. Consequently, none of the shops had any small change when we needed to break a bill for a purchase. Lots of parades and marching band action in the local square.

Christmas is an Orthodox affair

A little blessing of the Christmas trawl

Interesting flocks of exotic birds

Childrens street parade

Rockin' and rollin'

After all that scene setting, the Pavlov crew would like to thank you for your readership this last year, and wish you a fantastic new year. We're starting to practice our Albanian, and we're setting our mid-summer goal to Venice this year. Arrivederci!

Living History

We might be rubes from the colonies, but it never ceases to amaze me how history is such a living thing in Europe. It surrounds and envelops you with its frequent reminders of the past. Such was the case when we visited Cecilienhof, the last palace built in Prussian Germany. Emperor Wilhelm II built the palace for his son, Prince William and his wife Cecilia, starting construction in 1914. Construction was interrupted by World War I, but was concluded in 1917.

Entrance to Cecilienhof

Courtyard in front of the entrance

Front entrance

Central courtyard with Russian Red star, normally planted with red flowers.

The princess fled the palace during the 1918 Revolution, but took up residence later on. Wilhelm and Cecelia were granted residence as private citizens after 1923 after promising to stay out of politics. Wilhelm broke this agreement and supported Hitler's rise to power. Both he and Cecilia fled from the place in 1945 as the Russian Army approached. The Soviets seized Cecilienhof. However, it has another historic role to play at the end of the war.

Tudor styling of the palace

Wonderful chimney's grace the palace's 176 rooms.

Cecilia's breakfast room, styled as an ocean liner cabin

One of the garden courtyards

On July 17th, 1945, the Potsdam conference was hosted at Cecilienhof. This was the meeting between the three victorious heads of state after the defeat of Germany. Russia, represented by Josef Stalin; America represented initially by Franklin Roosevelt, then by Harry Truman; and the UK represented initially by Winston Churchill and then Clement Attlee.  They basically decided the shape of post-war Europe, dividing Germany into East and West, and setting the course for the cold war that followed.

Window to the large conference room where the Potsdam meetings were held.

Unlike Megan, I've never been much of a history buff, but this has changed since we started cruising. Visiting these sites has engaged my historical curiosity, and I'm becoming fascinated by the complex history of Europe. We are surrounded by palaces, castles and ancient churches. We stumble across unannounced ruins and find terracotta remains in our anchorage sites. History is all about us and you can feel the gravity of history still impinging on current events. I also wonder how imprisoned Europe is by its history and culture. At least us provincial folk have the open horizons to create a new and different history. I reflect on the multicultural nature of Australia, and how we are not one history, but the fusing of a myriad of pasts. Perhaps something new can be born from this flavoursome melee.

Megan, Yusha and Petra in Potsdam.

From such lofty cultural heights, we are now back in Greece on the boat which is still on the hard. Our days are now filled with the delights of antifouling and fibreglass polishing. Chop wood, carry water.

Christmas in Weimar

We've been experiencing a northern hemisphere Christmas period. The temperature has been below zero most of the time, there is a hint of snow in the air, and the sky is perpetually gloomy!

Brandenburg Tor in Potsdam

Wintery streets in Potsdam

To compensate for the chilly temperatures and to anticipate the arrival of Christmas, Germans hold Weihnacht fairs in most of the towns. Here's a fair we went to in Potsdam.

Crowds on the street at the Weihnacht fair

Taxidermy places a big part in Christmas!

This moose actually talks to you as you walk past.

Traditional Christmas sweets

Russian unemployment solution.

Christmas decorations

To balance all this levity, we thought a visit to the Jewish museum would be appropriate. I would have thought that the Jewish museum in Berlin would convey with suitable gravitas the horror and shock of the holocaust. Having seen some impressive museum exhibits (e.g. London war museum, Sydney Jewish museum), we were underwhelmed by the museum in Berlin. It was housed in a fantastic building displaying some breathtaking and innovative architecture, but the displays themselves were lack-lustre. It felt like too much emphasis was given to the display 'space' and not enough to the content of the displays.

A mood creation space in the Jewish Museum

Imposing  building of the Jewish museum in Berlin

We then travelled with Petra and Marco to Weimar, about 350 kilometres to the east.

Weimar houses

Imposing Weimar architecture

Rococco flourishes on the building

We visited the home of Goethe, and the attached museum, which was fascinating. Its possible to really feel the cultural pulse of Germany, echoing down from these shrines of remembrance. I imagine that every young artist in a country like Germany that so reveres its past, must feel this weight of history. Goethe typified the reverence felt towards antiquity by the Classical era. His home is filled with examples of art and sculpture from ancient Greece and Rome. He made extensive comparative studies of these art-works, as if he could visually extract the marrow from the bones of the ancients.

Goethe's house

Part of his extensive classical art collection

Art works adorn the walls

He took many plaster casts of Greek sculpture

Goethe's library

Goethe's work room

His personal carriage.

We also wandered through the Weihnacht fair in Weimar.

Travelling in style

A glockenspiel busker

Megan loves these Christmas ornaments.

I think they're meant to be angels.

We've been taking day trips in from Deetz (the village outside Potsdam where we are staying) in Berlin to shop and check out the museums. Here's a few photo's from the Technology Museum, one of my favourites.

Old penny farthing

Beam engine from the age of steam

Lots of loco's from the late 1800's onwards. 

Interesting shapes from the 1930's, the age of stream-lining.

A carriage that transported detainee's to the Holocaust camps

Impressive model of Berlin's Hauptbahnhof.

Ships in bottles

Photo of the air museum.

And so it goes. In a few days, we're heading back to Greece. The temperature in Lefkas has been hovering just below 20 degrees, so we're anticipating a return to balmier conditions and a reprieve from the cold. Wimpy Australians, hey!