Holiday.. Germany - Peru

I leave my last wotkin' day in the morning, while the sun is going up. I got my coffee and a bagel on the way home. Not much time to stay home cos I had to run to the office to get some of my copies certificated... Copies of my passport and so... just in case to have something with me, if the original will be stolen or lost... who knows... a journey is an adventure... everything can happen, god and bad.
On the office they actually write on the copies that they are not for official use, no document of evidence... proof.. but that's what they are for... how stupid is this bureaucracy. Well just 10,- euros for getting a sign and a stamp on the paper. I guess I have to be grateful that it did not cost more then this. But then, after all is said and done.. I still had the sun... really a summer day alike. So time for shopping new shoes for the journey, which can get dirty... wet.. and are good to climb a stair, a hill, a tree.. whatever... and of course... and multiadapter, cos nowhere is really to read if you need one and which one... I mean I have to upload my mobile from time to time... it's modern times... And so I can surly travel with this multi thing in many countries now... gotta do it, that's for sure..:-)
What do I need more... a bug spray... they say there are Mosquitos... in the jungle.
Then it was time to do all things.. you know like clothes and toothbrush into the luggage. Was not that much at the end.. I do not travel with a lot... us not to do this.. sometimes they wonder if this is really all- at the airport...

So the afternoon and night was quite right to make a walk into town, with a friend, who should keep an eye on my flowers and post.... So we went to the middle, the centre, if we can call it like this in Berlin, cos to be true, there is no real centre, but  some kid of a middle and in this middle there is the museum island.. with and little garden in front of one of those museums, which are old, beauty and always word a visit. Hundreds of birds- starlings... who fly in the sky, first just a view, then more and more and in little groups... no idea where they come from, but they fly in circles, fly up and down and then it became spectacular... before sunset they started to fly to the chestnuts trees. We have around  a half dozen standing their. So those birds came in, landing on the branches and oh my... they came more, and then some and then more, and then some.. more and more like it never could end, like the trees would get bigger.... Over my head they came arriving, landing into the crowns of the trees, never to have a problem to fid some space to sit down, but kid, they twitter, as loud they could, and the more they get they louder they became.... I mean, their was a man, sitting next to us, telling us that this is a colony about 25.000 birds... seems pretty much, but after sitting their an half hour I absolutely believe this is possible, cos they where still coming in, in little or big groups... like troops ... I just could shake my head... unbelievable and fascinating.... but it became darker, so we went on to see another little project in town, not far away... where once a castle stood, their is now some kind of lawn, park and because Berlin is getting 775 years old, people made some history visible, in the way... mmh they made a Berlin card, a plan of the town on the crown with big let's call them Lollipops, where you can stand under and read some stories... well of course a lot will be missing, but then, the most seems to had happen in the middle of the town...  

So after a long long night, after the first holiday day... I did not really sleep, but was white a wake to start the fly... and yet, right when the sun rises , the aircraft started. Of course in Berlin things sometimes don't go the way it was planed... I mean the tram was not coming like they wrote on the internet, the airport should have been history now, but yes, I sat there in the morning with a far to expensive Cola, sitting on a bank and watching the people go by... Tegel will last a while... guess it can be 2- or 3 years more, no matter what they say now...  But watching the people makes you see, that the world has come to be more, well when you look at the shoes and most peoples clothes... they became more like everyone else... I mean the style has become very similar. A lot of mixing styles actually and a lot of sandals, as if it could not be cold in the aircraft. But also 3 or 4 bottle collectors are on the way and it seems everyone from the stuff knows them.. they talked to them once in a while. And then watching the stuff, doing the daily work, like cleaning the windows, open the coffee bar, writing on the computers, talking to strangers... makes me wonder, why we have so different wage... A Bus driver has to do a hard work, like the window cleaner or the captain... who did it became so crazy and different and difficult? Well... something to discuss later... now it's time for holiday.. the fly to an foreign country, via Madrid... in Spain...
Fro high above Spain seems to me like the moon, so white and then so read and yellow the earth... with hills, lookin' like crater... The airport is absolutely different to the one in Barcelona, which I know quite well. But so I miss my green Sweden just the moment we landed... Well it's not an dead area... their are grass and a big rabbit went o to seek food, like it seemed to me.
The airport may be very big, but I must confess..is very structured... Just you need some time to come from the national part to the international part....

national part Airport Madrid

looking to the international part Airport Madrid

tower of the international part of the Airport in Madrid

The Fly self, the journey was not very interesting. The guy sitting next to me- I had an window place, like always- was a man from Peru, but he barely spoke english or german at all and the smelled a bit... could have been worse, but was not much of a talkin' friend.... The food was o.k. the cake was horrible bad, but seems everyone eat it, just as it would be the last meal they will ever have... crazy world we live in.... ! But it was vegetarian we could get too- so I will not say much more.... to this...

While flying over the rainforest, the jungle, I remembered what a friend home pleased me to do.. bring some leaves with you back to Germany, dead leaves of course, we want no one in danger or getting arrested... Lookin' down out of my window, the river are really going like a snake moves... but because we had some clouds who made it hard to see all, I just got a little peace of the big green down there on earth to see...
And then finally after 12 hours of being in the air, I touched the ground again in Lima... 
Peru, here I am! 
The airport is in the north of the town, next to the port for all the big ships from all over the world. The temp. is mild, and before I can leave the airport, we all have to fill out the immigration notes.. Home in Germany, they all should sleep.. Six hours back now for me to the time from home... But oh my, so many, so big luggages... I had to wait and wait and wait... and wait... but in the end, i got my own luggage back into my hands and outside is my guide waiting to pic me up and drive me to the hotel. She is actually very nice, speaks very good german and learned on a school of switzerland. Well lucky me. It is always kind o luck with your guides. She actually knew about Tegel and was asking me about it... The way to my hotel in the district Miraflores takes about 45 minutes. We talk about eating, children, economical and biological food... what we can do and are doing now... That it next to never really rains in Lima, well it rains, but this is not really wetting the ground, so the flowers and trees have to be irrigate. Just now it is the last winter days time.. spring has arrived and the summer is to start soon.  No idea to swim in the ocean, but if you are a surfer, you'll have fun... that's for sure. 
Much like in Berlin, you'll find a lot of construction areas... feels like home already, but yes, when you come from the airport you also see, that Lima has a lot of poor people.. you don't see the slums, like they used to write in the traveler books, but you see, they are not rich and yes, from the 8 to 10 million people here- nobody knows exactly how much population Lima has...- half of them are poor and Peru has 30% unemployment. The democracy may be here to, since a long long time, but because of corruption and terror, their is less money around here. 
The most buildings are little, just two or three floors high... mostly not done... unfinished... But on the other side, it remains me much of Israel, Spain and Fuerteventura... it seems their is a kind of typical houses in warm and not so rich countries...
El Olivar.. is the name of my Hotel, in Miraflores.... a three star plus hotel.. and I can only recommend it... Next the hotel is an old Olive grove. 
My guide said that the peru people have completed with the colonial time. It's past and they where not the only victims... well, except in Cusco it is said, that the people are still a bit more traditional thinking... and more proud of the time before the colonial time, before the spanish and portuguese came. 
But back to Miraflores.. it is one of the better districts and here are the middle class of Lima and the lower upper class people living. A lot of little stores, but better once. A lot of coffees and restaurants. And a lot of security... And Attention: have always some Dollars with you for tip... most people need them to get the wage better, but when you eat somewhere in an restaurant 10% is what you should put on the table, or more if you want.... not 25 to 29% - that's what you can read in the travelers books... otherwise, one or two Dollars as a tip is always right, and smile.... !

So... the night has started and the TV News are on...I'm in my room and feel really good. Enjoying a warm bad and then yes, it's the 1. September.. so the News are all about the 11. September in New York. All TV channels? No... we have a traditional soccer game going on... So I went down to the bar and their they are... the guest, the stuff, all together watching in fever the game Peru against Argentina... It's actually a long time ago I had time to watch a soccer game at full length.  It's a real good play and some fouls, which where not so nice... at the end 1:1 it stood... but I had the feeling of ..now I can go to sleep and dream sweet. :-)
Oh .... you should absolutely bye some water bottles... you can drink the water in the hotel, but it tastes bad... you won't have another sip of it.... 


LOVE & LIGHT