Our Inspiring Cancer Survivor's book visits Berlin - Blog Part 11

Berlin. Capital city of Germany, more than 3.4 million people and tons of rich history. No wonder we were so busy and overwhelmed when we were there this summer.

Hi. It's the Never Leave Your Wingman book again, and I am reporting to you from this intriguing city that is such a contrast of styles and stories - incredibly modern mixed with remnants of Communism and old-war history. So in case you haven't been following my blogs up to this point - I am the true story of a seven-time cancer survivor in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, who dressed in costumes and danced into her chemotherapy treatments alongside her supportive husband - her wingman - when she was fighting Stage IV liver, lung and bone cancers in 2009 and 2010. Her name is Dionne Warner (her husband is Graham Warner), and she is very much alive and well. She still dances into her chemo treatments for her eighth cancer diagnosis - liver cancer again - but that's not what this blog is about today.

As I said, I'm a book and I was written by author/editor/book publisher Deana Driver, and she is the person who usually writes this blog. But this summer, she surprised me and took me in her backpack as she and her husband, whom I call Publisher Al - because that's his name, and he is Deana's husband and business partner in their company DriverWorks Ink ... Oh, wait. Where was I? Oh, yes. I was in Regina, Saskatchewan, when they scooped me up and took me with them to Europe on their once-in-a-lifetime adventure this summer. So I've been blogging about what I (and we) saw and did in Europe.

So here we are in Berlin.

Well, okay, that really wasn't our FIRST view of Berlin, but you gotta admit he's kinda cute. And the German guy beside him wearing Lederhose is also kinda handsome. Ha Ha Ha!

Okay, seriously now. The random parking was something we still weren't quite adjusted to, even after we'd spent several weeks in Europe.

But my author took an immediate liking to these little guys - the 'Walk' and 'Don't Walk' characters that appear on many of Berlin's traffic light stands.

Turns out the little guy is called Ampelmann. He came to life in East Germany and became very popular. His popularity increased even more when there was a move to replace him for more traditional pedestrian 'walk' symbols after the 1990 reunification of Germany. Public outcry ensured that his image is now in Western and Eastern Berlin and merchandise bearing his likeness is extremely popular.

My author thought she would see if she could be Ampelmann.

Um... No.

Berlin was heavily bombed during the Second World War and there are many modern buildings...

...mixed with some more traditional-looking styles. But what is most striking about Berlin is the vibrancy of its people, who are constantly building, rebuilding, and preserving the history of this most historical place.

This chalk artist was representing the scene in front of him - the rebuilding or constant building of his city.

In 1933, the Third Reich burned 20,000 books that came from Humboldt University's library. This made me sad. I had to sit down and think about that for a while.

I was also sad to see the many plaques in the sidewalk outside the university that honoured many professors who died during the war - many in concentration camps.

It lifted my spirits to see this angel...

...and this one.

The Reichstag is Germany's parliament building and features the most incredible glass dome.

Here's Publisher Al and my author on the roof, outside the dome.

This is what we saw inside the dome as we walked up the spiral walkway around the dome. The Reichstag uses solar energy and the dome has a large screen attached to its centre piece which moves with the sun. We enjoyed the audioguide as we walked up to view Berlin from the rooftop.

Berlin is a city of memorials. This is a 2005 art installation of 2,711 gravestone-like concrete pillars to honour and remember the Murdered Jews of Europe.

The pillars are of all shapes and sizes. A walk through these pathways, complete with hills and valleys, fills one with awe, sadness and gratitude.

With this beautiful historic church as a backdrop, these circular displays honour some of Berlin's builders, intellectuals, artists and teachers who died during the Second World War.

My author and I were particularly moved by the memorial on the top here. Else Ury was one of Germany's 'best-known and widely read' children's book authors. 'She was deported to Auschwitz and murdered immediately after her arrival.' 

Writing this blog led me and my author to find this wonderful tribute to Else Ury. It made us happy to read about this talented author's life and how she is being remembered.

The most common tourist attractions in Berlin are the Brandenburg Gate... 

...Checkpoint Charlie... 

 ...and the Berlin Wall. 

We saw several different sections of the Wall which stood from 1961 to 1989, separating West and East Germany. Above was a section at a memorial near Checkpoint Charlie.

Here's a piece  of the wall with murals and memorials on it.

Passersby could get their passport stamped here - for a fee - with the original East Berlin visa. We didn't bother. We looked at and read the concrete wall instead.

This section of the wall is still in its original position but is now protected from the 'woodpeckers' - people who came and chipped away sections of the wall for souvenirs and resale after 1989. 

And this was our favourite section of the Berlin Wall - the East Side Gallery. It is the biggest remaining stretch of the Wall, covering 1.3 kilometres. With more than 100 paintings by artists all over the world, this International Memorial For Freedom is known as the 'world's longest open air art gallery'.  

We'll let the art speak for itself...

I was delighted to see another artist working on his piece. Very cool.

So that's it for this part of our wonderful Europe trip. For now, we'll say goodnight - from beautiful, vibrant, complex Berlin.

I'll see you again soon.

Never Leave Your Wingman book visits Amsterdam - Blog Part 10

Hello there. It's been almost four months since I came home from my wonderful European vacation and I still can't believe I WAS IN EUROPE THIS SUMMER! Oh my gosh, it was incredible! But then again, you may be having a little trouble believing that I am writing a blog about my adventures there, too. I am a book, after all - the Never Leave Your Wingman book - about a seven-time cancer survivor who dresses in costume and dances into her chemo treatments, to be exact. What can I say about my going to Europe and writing about it - my author and her husband (Publisher Al) have fun imaginations and thought it would be fun to take me along on their first-ever European vacation. (Read my first blog.)

So here we are in Holland, near the end of our vacation in which we have already seen parts of seven countries. We are leaving the beautiful town of Groesbeek, Netherlands, heading for the big city - Amsterdam, to be exact. But first, we visited a friend in another Dutch town and enjoyed a popular Dutch meal which they call pancakes. In Canada, we would call them crepes. No matter what they're called, these were pretty darn tasty.

You can get Dutch pancakes with bacon and egg toppings, pizza-like toppings, omelette-style... pretty much any kind you can imagine... but my publishers had fruit with their pancakes. Whipped cream, too - 'cause there wasn't enough sugar on the pancakes. Good thing they spent most of our vacation walking to work off all those calories. Sheesh! 

And as we were walking back to our car, we saw this wonderful sight... 

...a bicycle built for two, riding along this bike path through a splendid forest.

I could live in Holland. For sure. So beautiful. And the green of the trees would nicely complement the beauty of my pink cover, don't you think?

Ahem.... Sorry about that. I don't usually get so full of myself. Must be the sugar buzz from the pancakes.

So let's get back to our trip. It's on to Amsterdam. 

Here's Publisher Al - turning this sign into 'Al'msterdam.

Silly Al.

Amsterdam is a beautiful, unique, fascinating city. We saw many interesting sights, so hold on to your hat or whatever else is close by as we take you on a photo journey with us. 

This is the strangest, most unique hotel we've ever seen. Yes, that's it - the thing on the right that looks like a giant pop can. It's called the Fletcher Hotel, and it is designed in a circular pattern.

The building and windows are circular,

...the hallways are circular - which is a little disorienting for we who are used to Canada's flat prairies - but the most unusual feature of this hotel is the circular shower... 

...in the MIDDLE of the hotel room! 

Yes, there I am, balancing on the shower door handle while Publisher Al sits at a chair by the window, just watching and wondering what on earth we will see next in Amsterdam.

Well, he didn't have to wait long before we saw...  

...our first outdoor urinal. On the street. In front of God and everyone! 

The man inside this urinal is actually a maintenance employee who was cleaning the urinal. Good thing, too. Some of the outdoor urinals we passed were downright nasty. Later on, we did see another man entering another street urinal in the Red Light District. We just kept walking. Enough said about that.

So on to Amsterdam's beauty. 

The main train station downtown (on the right) is a gorgeous old building. As we wandered toward it, we heard a commotion behind us.

We turned around and saw...   

- a bridal party making its way to the train station! 

Just another neat experience for us in Europe.

We enjoyed a canal tour and learned that Amsterdam was built like an onion - one layer at a time - and has become a model for all other cities, including New York - which used to be called New Amsterdam.  I did not know that, so there you go - you can learn something new every day. But then again, I am a book and someone has to read me and read to me.

Anyway, we saw some beautiful canals, amazing old buildings, interesting architecture and fascinating sights as we floated down the river and walked through the streets of this wonderful city.

Bicycles are everywhere, including on the sidewalks...

..and parked under the canal bridges. "It's important to remember where you parked yours," said our tour guide. There are 600,000 bikes in Amsterdam at any one time - in a city with about 725,000 people and another two million in the area. 

We watched the water traffic as we sipped our tea and juice at a small café. We found that drinks are often served only partially filled in the Netherlands. Our Dutch friend told us that when that happens, the locals often ask for a ladder - so they can use it to get the drink to the top of the cup! We didn't want to be rude, so we didn't ask for a ladder, but we sure thought about it when this cup of tea was delivered!

We loved seeing the variety of shapes and sizes of buildings here.

This is how you get around in Amsterdam - 

- by bike, on foot, by boat, motorcycle and car - all within a few metres of each other.

'Gable stones' like this one tell people something about those who lived in these buildings at one time.

Rembrandt Corner includes a café and the museum in the house where the famous Dutch painter Rembrandt lived. 

 

On the Canadian Prairies, we don't have subways and train stations, and we certainly don't have rails like this to help us get our bicycles down the stairs and onto the street to ride the rest of the way home. Cool.

We have beer, but not a Heineken brewery in our hometown.

Nor do we have the incredible Van Gogh Museum, where we saw so many of his amazing paintings ... 

...including the yellow house where he lived and worked on his art in 1888.

So with these final images of Amsterdam...

- the cheese vendors,

- the stores

and the flower markets,

my author found that Amsterdam left some very large shoes for other European cities to fill.

Silly author.

As for me, I'm tired from all that walking, so I'm going to sleep.

I'll see you again soon.

Books, Gifts, Awards & Kids' Questions

Happy December, everyone! We at DriverWorks Ink (that would be Al and I) want to make your holiday gift-giving as easy as possible, so we recommend a number of our books that might be of interest to specific people on your gift list … Oh, wait, we did that last year (see my blog).

Okay, let’s try that again.

We want to give you a special gift when you buy our books as gifts for the people you love (or the people you like and want to buy gifts for etc. etc.). 

If you purchase $20 worth of DriverWorks Ink books from us (either from our website, by mail order or in person), you’ll receive a free key chain flashlight – which is excellent for finding your way down a hallway in the dark (just ask our grandchildren – who turned out the hall lights and proved this to be true). There are a multitude of other uses for these handy little items, such as holding your keys – but that’s for you to discover on your own.

And… If you buy $40 worth of DriverWorks Ink books from us (same ways as above), we’ll give you one of our new fancy dancy DriverWorks Ink tote bags. They’re just downright useful. And pretty. (See photo below). So place your orders today. We’re pretty efficient at filling orders, so any order placed between now and December 18 should ensure receipt of the books within Canada before Christmas (if Santa’s helpers are working up to speed, that is).

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In other news, we are happily back in our office and not on the road, for the first time in the last four months. First, there was that wonderful once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe (which our Never Leave Your Wingman book has blogged about as a fun way to share our travels (See the first blog or skip straight to this one, where we met the amazing Sue Elliott, the ‘little Dutch girl’ who is the subject of Alan Buick’s book The Little Coat).

Then we spent most of the last three months travelling in the three Prairie Provinces of Western Canada. From September 5 to November 30, we participated in nine craft/trade shows and made a total of 62 author/publisher presentations in 27 communities. We spoke to 3,200 students and 159 adults at schools, libraries, seniors' residences, bookstores and museums. And we had a blast! Thank you, Saskatchewan Arts Board, for the Creative Industries Transition Fund which allowed us to do this important work! Thank you to everyone who welcomed us into their communities. We'd do it all again in a flash... but maybe not until we've rested up a bit.

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While we were on the road, we learned that two of our books won awards at book award contests in the United States. Pretty cool news to receive while on a Saskatchewan highway – or anywhere, for that matter. The inspiring Never Leave Your Wingman: Dionne and Graham Warner’s Story of Hope book by Regina author Deana J. Driver (that’s me) was awarded Honourable Mention in the Biography/Autobiography category of the 2013 Great Midwest Book Festival. The touching, yet humourous Letters to Jennifer From Maudie & Oliver book by Winnipeg author Sharon Gray won an Honourable Mention as well, in the Cats category of the 2013 Animals, Animals, Animals Book Festival! (See all of our books on our website – www.driverworks.ca.)

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Here are some other bits of news we’d like to share with you, our readers:

-        Since October, we have been very pleased with the response to Regina author Shae Therrien’s memoir Interrupted With Bipolar. A man told us that he was sitting at a local swimming pool, reading Shae's book while waiting for his daughter to finish her swim. A woman beside him began chatting with him and then shared her history of mental illness with him, because she saw the courage that Shae must have to share his personal story through his book. Another woman at a trade show commented to us about Shae: “He is no doubt one of the ‘unsung Canadian heroes’ you talk about in your pamphlet.” Yes, he is.

-        We are pleased that we now have copies of Called By The Spirit: Calling Lakes Centre Celebrates 60 Years by Holly L. Schick for sale. We helped this United Church of Canada educational facility, once known as Prairie Christian Training Centre, self-publish their history and are pleased to provide another way for folks to purchase this great book. More than 50 contributors complement the writing of author Holly Schick by sharing their stories and memories of spending time enjoying the Centre's programs – and there are great photos, too!

-        We realized this fall that two of our books revolve around events that happened on the same day – December 25, 1944, during the Second World War. The Little Coat by Alan J. Buick and The Sailor and the Christmas Trees by Deana Driver are touching war stories with a timeless message of the importance of giving. We invite you to check them out this Christmas season.

-        And we can’t let you go without telling you about the great responses we've been having to Dave Driver’s funny children’s book SuperMom and the Big Baby. We've read parts of the book and shown it to hundreds of school children these past months and have enjoyed hearing their giggles. Parents of children from ages 2 to 9 have told us how much their children love the book. Recently, some Grade 2 students sent their grandma to Regina to buy the book after we read it to them in Vibank, Saskatchewan. Oops, I hope we didn't spoil someone's Christmas gift!

-        And finally, here are some of the unique questions asked and some conversations we've had with Kindergarten to Grade 4 students on our tour:

o   “How many books have you written?” Five.

o   “Which of the books you wrote do you like the best?” I don’t have a favourite book. They’re all like my babies, and you shouldn't choose a favourite baby. Any other questions?

o    “How many books did you write?” Uh… I've written five books.

o   “When did you start to write?” When I was in Grade 2, and I've been writing ever since.

o   Does anyone have a question? “My name is John .” (relating to John Hanlon of The Sailor and the Christmas Trees book.) Oh, that’s great… but that’s not a question. Remember, questions start with ‘who, what, when, where and how’.

o   Yes, what is your question? “My dad’s name is Al.” (relating to publisher Al Driver.)

o   (In a Saskatchewan school) “Where were you born in Alberta?” Athabasca. Were you born in Alberta? “Yes.” Nice.

o   “How do you write your books?” I ask a lot of questions, because I’m curious. I gather all the information and I put it all together.

o   “Have you ever been to Port Coquitlam, B.C.?” Yes, as a matter of fact, I have. Did you come here from Port Coquitlam? Nod. Welcome to Saskatchewan! Smile.

o   “Are you Ukrainian?” (Inside my head – wha??? But we were in the Canora, SK area.) As a matter of fact, I am. My dad was Ukrainian. Do I look like your Baba? Nod.

o   And our favourite of them all…. “When did you start growing?” (Deflect the question and ask Al to show them how tall he is.) “Whoa!”

Happy Holidays, everyone!

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