Berlin is just 4 hours from Nuremberg on a high speed bullet train across the former East Germany. The Brandenburg Gate, barricaded for years by the Soviets, is now where East and West unite.

The Reichstag is once again the seat of German Power , since the Capital returned to Berlin in 2000.

There is still a 100 meter section of the Wall. East and West are nearly indistinguishable in this area, but becomes more evident further East.

In memory of those who tried to escape.

A Communist World Clock in the Alexanderplatz.

The East German Secret Police, the Stasi, were charged with keeping an unwilling population within the clutches of Communism. All of East Germany was under survellance from everyone else- the watchers were watched by others. The Stasi prison located in Hohenschönhausen is a grim reminder of when the power of the state gets totally out of control. Hohenschönhausen itself, an area of East Berlin set aside for top Party officials and intelligence services did not even exist on maps.

There are hundreds of cells in the facility. Prisoners were held here for years for imagined and real crimes , including thoughtcrimes against the State. Interrogations went on for days at a stretch. The Stasi used very little physical torture , but they were experts at mental torture, achieving complete breakdowns in order to ge the desired confession. While the Berlin Wall fell in November,1989, prisoners here were not freed until Reunification Day on October 3,1990, finding out for the first time that the State for which so much of their lives had been wasted , existed no more.

Commie Hi-Tech.

THe Rubber Room. After several months in complete silence and darkness the victims were ready to confess to whatever crimes the Stasi told them to.

Vanished brand of a vanished nation.

In the former East Germany, on the way north from Munich to Berlin.

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Heidelberg, called Germany’s most beautiful city by Winston Churchill, was spared the vicious bombing raids received by other unarmed, militarily non-strategic cities at the end of the War. As a result its’ Old City is intact, almost unchanged since the 16th century. It is here where the Director of ArcticTropic lived as a young boy ( Father was transferred here from New York ) and where fascination with travel developed. Above is the Castle, Schloß Heidelberg.

One of the Castle’s turrets, destroyed by the French in the mid 18th century. Much of the castle is still intact and houses a winery, a restaurant and a museum.

The Alte Brücke, built across the Neckar in 1587.

The Alte Kirche , St.Vitus, in Handschuheim. Built in the 12th century, the church retains it’s original clock.

The Boyhood Home of the ArcticTropic Director at Bergstraße 69.

The Hotel Ritter, where we stayed. Very centrally located, built in 1400. Only drawback – the € 10 per day wifi is also slow and ancient.

Spring Sunset over the Old City and the Neckar.

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At the end of a business trip to Western Argentina, followed by the flight over the Andes,ArcticTropic took an overnight excursion to Valparaiso ( known as Valpo to the locals) . Only about 2 hours from Santiago, and 4 hours from the slopes of Portillo, the city is in some ways reminiscent of San Francisco, without the freezing fog in the summertime.

A Miami bound ship is loaded with containers of wine.

Cool winds freshen the city , offering relief from inland summer heat.

The Hotel Reina Victoria.

Reminiscent of an old train car, this 100 year old funicular climbs ta mountainside overlooking the Port of Valparaiso,Chile on a beautiful summer’s day.

The sky becomes back as night from a forest fire that burned 60 houses and temporarily closed the road to Santiago.

The icy South Pacific never goes above 58 degrees ( 17 C ), as the Humboldt Current flows directly from Antarctica.

A delicious seafood stew , Parihuela, at Restaurant Caruso.

Artistic Graffiti is everywhere.

NIghtlife picks up around midnight and goes till dawn. Bar Cinzano is a throwback to the 1940’s but there are many electro-dance clubs around.

A nightclub singer at Bar Cinzano – straight out of the 1940’s.

Valparaiso is the main Pacific port for the Southern Cone – to China, Australia, the US and even Europe via Panama.

The Chilean Navy’s main base of operations – extending from Peru to the Antarctic and out to the middle of the South Pacific.

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After a brief stopover in Buenos  Aires, it was time for ArcticTropic to move on to a week of business meetings in São Paulo. I decided to go by way of Montevideo , Uruguay. Buquebus Hydrofoil from Puerto Madero to Montevideo and early the next morning TAM to GRU . Though the 100 mile ,3 hour trip ( with Wifi and Duty-Free) seems to be at sea, the ship is , in fact, crossing the world’s widest river mouth – the Rio de la Plata. When we arrived in Montevideo at mid day , the entire Uruguayan Navy – all 8 ships- was out in full force to celebrate Uruguay’s 200th Independence Day. !

In the Old City, little has changed in the last 150 years.

Montevideo is probably one of the quietest capital cities on Earth. Uruguay has 35,000,000 head of cattle and only 3,000,000 people.

A DAy of Celebration.

Where the Father of Evolution began his Antipodean Journeys.

The aroma of the world’s best cuts of meat is everywhere in the windy streets. On Saturday , hundreds of diners gather at the port for excellent parilla.  ( Pa-ree-sha)

Vegans Beware !

Sweetbreads.

Portside Streets.

Colonial Street Signs.

Holy Water in a Giant Clamshell.

Peace.

Patrimony.

Edeficio Salvo.

Hotel Palacio – $40 US per night. At 3 AM, it’s time to move on to the airport.

Aeroparque Buenos Aires is one of the world’s most beautiful airports, along with Santos Dumont in Rio. Here is a beautiful, though shaky landing on a fine spring morning. ArcticTropic is actually designed and built in BA.

We were not here long , but here’s a few shots around town, before heading to Uruguay the next day.

The Pampas – home of incredible beef.

House in Palermo.

Puerto Madero

Cristina !

On May 15th, I flew China Eastern from Hangzhou to Guangzhou. Guangzhou Airport is massive – it appeared several times bigger than  JFK or LAX. Cargo terminals make up most of that – almost anything one buys in a Home Depot or Pottery Barn or any other massive chain was made within 50 miles of Guangzhou. The city itself is massive – Manhattan coud fit into the corner of a smaller neighborhood. Above is the TV Tower – about 1480 feet.

Nearby is a tall Pagoda – dwarfed by theTV Tower.

The Pearl River from the TV Tower.

7:30 AM Monday May 16th. Primary schoolers stand for assembly , which includes patriotic songs, speeches by teachers , awards to students. In general these children are about 2 years ahead of American children in math and science.

The Shanghai Trade Fair Mart across the Pearl River.

CPU’s and keyboards en route to California.

It seems that all cheap souvenirs , tchachkes, bricabrac , momentos and swag are made in Guangzhou. These cups can be ordered by the container load at 20 cents a piece.

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Japan is,understandably, undergoing the worst threat to tourism since World War II. Few people will vist in 2011 and some areas might never be visited again until 2211.  ArcticTropic would like to remind travelers that Hokkaido and other adventure areas remain untouched by the nuclear cloud. Tokyo itself is relatively unaffected as of now. Here are some snapshots taken way back in late 1988.

Akasaka  market.

Prayer – much needed these days.

Riverside lunch.

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Berlin, a few days after  reunification. Parts of the Wall still stand, soon to be chooped up into millions of tiny pieces for sale at $ 10 each.

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Spoils of the Cold War for the Western victors – the symbols of  non-existent East Germany – swept into the Dustbin of History.

The Dresden Cathedral, still blackened and destroyed by American bombing n 1945 – soon to be restored to its’ former glory.

The First Free Election in a United Germany.

The Reichstag – in 1990, still burned inside  -in 2000,  after restoration, was the seat of German power once again.

The River Spree.

The Trabi – a car that ran on a 2 stroke engine ( like that of a lawn mower ) and had a 15 year waiting list

On Saturday ,September 4th , ArcticTropic skied the slopes of Portillo in brilliant sunshine and then departed at mid-Day to cross the Argentine border,then descended the Andes to Mendoza.

ArcticTropic Director at the Cristo Redentor crossing from Chile to Argentina. In early September, at winter’s end , there are normally several meters of snow here. There was none ! While the winter of 2010 was one of the coldest, it was unfortunately one of the driest. The Chilean side had one third of the normal snowfall, which was enough for  great skiing, but in Argentina, heavy snow fell mainly on the flat deserts and pampas, not in the mountains. Some small ski areas never opened. For a more detailed view of the journey across the Andes go to  the ArcticTropic Blog archives for March,2008. In a few weeks the bog will be fully searchable.

The first leaves of Spring.

Best Steaks in The World – Bife de Chorizo at Don Mario’s in Mendoza.

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I am now in Mendoza , Argentina. Beautiful Spring Day, sun blazing out of the North , nice cool dry breezes. Off to some vineyards now. Great shots of the Andes to be posted later.

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