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Berlin - June 2-4, 2025

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June 2-3 While I was enjoying a day in Guernsey,  Chris traveled from SFO to Frankfurt and then Berlin arriving on June 3. I left the ship on June 3rd and flew from London to Berlin.  We finally connected at the Intercity Berlin Hauptbahn hotel about 7:30 pm (local time, 9 hours ahead of Pacific coast) where we joined our friends the Christine and Richard Herrmann for a snack, drink and 90 min of catching up. Tomorrow we begin our city touring in earnest.   June 4 With Richard's help, we purchased our Deutschland tickets that would allow us to travel on any public transportation (except ICE trains) for a month and we used it extensively during our Berlin stay. During our first full day in Berlin we walked approximately 6 miles, took the S-bahns and only covered Mitte Berlin (one of 6 different Berlin sectors).   Our exploration started with the iconic Brandenburg Gate area, where Christine and Richard shared powerful personal memories of November 9, 19...
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Guernsey Island - June 2, 2025

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We embarked on our tour of Guernsey aboard  "Twinkle,"  a beautifully restored 1954 Albion bus - one of the original buses that traveled around the island in the 1950s. The bus was lovingly restored and was just the right transportation for our tour of this charming island.  Unfortunately, neither Fran nor I took a picture of the bus, but I did manage to find a picture of the bus online.   Our guide was very knowledgeable and provided us with many fascinating insights as we traveled around the island.  We learned that Guernsey holds a fascinating position in the world - it's not part of the UK nor the European Union, but rather a self-governing Crown dependency. This unique status dates back to 1204, when the island pledged allegiance to the English crown. The island maintains its own government, sets its own laws, and decides its own taxes, giving it remarkable autonomy. One of the most intriguing aspects of Guernsey's history is that the island built its ...
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