Gatow

Yesterday at Gatow I was a little disappointed. I had hoped that the Luftwaffe museum would be entered via the original main gate of the station and that the barracks would be part of it.
Getting over this little bit of disappointment and getting on with looking at something like 100 aircraft, parked in various states of repair, from well preserved to down right rotten. It was a good exhibition of what aircraft the Germans have used in the 50 years of the Luftwaffe.
Did they really use Harriers? Cos there was one there.
I’ve come as close to a Hind (Not you John and Amanda) as I ever want to. These are seriously ugly machines and would have cause a certain amount of intimidation when you saw one armed and coming towards you.

Some lovely aircraft, from a Grunau Baby II, we have flying examples in Oz, Me109, Tornado’s, Phantoms, the list goes on.

I decided that I would take a picture of the Tower, now for some reason the exhibition in the bottom was closed. As I was walking up to the building a fat German lady started shouting. Apparently at me, when I finally stopped a few more words were shouted and nothing further when I walked away. So I did what anybody else would have done. I waited until she was about 500m away (she’s on a bike) and walked back over.
But no she was keeping an eye on me….. cycles back over and continues shouting at me in German from about 5m away. Joy oh Joy I’m being shouted at by a fat German lady, “I don’t speak German”. Torrent of German words. Some of which were I think Not Good.
Anyway by that time I’d got my pictures. Now there were other people about walking up to the building (with cameras) and taking a look, but nothing was said to them.
Very strange.

While entering one of the exhibitions a cherry (may have been a bird full of cherries) burst in the tree above me. I have this wonderful trail of cherry (I’m choosing to think it was a burst cherry) from my baseball cap, down the front of my shirt part of my camera and my jeans!