Waiting outside the Schloss to buy a Prepaid German phone card.



Duke Friedrich Wilhelm sits on his horse.



This year my Blackberry has proved to be too expensive to use in Germany, so Guenter has kindly loaned me his old phone.  This morning we met in the city beside the statue to Duke Friedrich Wilhelm, in order to walk to the E-Plus Phone Shop in Schloss Arkadan.  

This fine Schloss, badly damaged in the war, and eventually completely demolished, was originally the home of the Dukes of Brunswick.  It has been rebuilt as a very plush shopping arcade,   and was completed in 2008 with an identical facade to the original building.  Many of the stones were salvaged from the bombed building, and used in its rebuild.  It houses a library to the right, a museum to the left, a number of public function rooms, and of course  the many busy shops and cafes in the arcade.

We bought the prepaid phone card in the E-Plus Shop, and now I have a cheap phone on which to receive calls and text messages, mainly in Germany.   I have felt a little lost without the immediate contact with friends to which I am accustomed, but from this Friday onwards, I can text away  and feel normal again, whatever normal is!

Duke Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand on his horse.

In front of the Schoss stand two magnificent statues of the Dukes of Brunswick on their horses.  Over the portal, on the roof, stands the largest Quadriga in Europe, four horses pulling a chariot.  Originally cast in 1855, it consists of Brunonia in her chariot, the allegorical goddess of the Duchy and Free State of the city of Brunswick.  The statue was recast in the 2006 and eventually placed on the palace roof ready for its reopening in 2008. 

Outside "Costa Coffee" with Duke Friedrich Wilhelm and horse in the distance.

Here I'm sitting outside "Costa Coffee"  at the nice wooden tables and chairs, waiting for Guenter to arrive.  I eventually spotted him in the distance, looking for me.  We sat here later, drinking coffee and hot chocolate with cream, waiting for the phone company to unlock the phone.  We were told to wait an hour, but after an hour and a quarter, both of us were feeling hungry for lunch.  We gave up waiting, and Guenter took the phone home to connect, and I will collect it on Friday morning.  I came home feeling ready for lunch. As you can see, it has been another very warm day, but  it should become cooler by the weekend.

Yet another view of Duke Friedrich Wilhelm.