20 June 2006

Spargel and Sightseeing

Note: One of the reasons for the gap in my posting activity is that I have been struggling with uploading pics. I also wanted to preserve some of these in larger size. (Trust me, they come out of the camera at 5 MB each, so even the large ones have still be rescaled.)
So, I have used thumbnails here, linking to a larger picture. Just click em. Although, those with slow connections might be happier just enjoying the thumbnails. And, I know, it's not an ideal solution, so any suggestions (including detailed instructions!) are welcome.


As many of you know, my mom came to visit in May. We had -- and I feel pretty confident speaking for both of us -- a wonderful, though exhausting, time exploring Berlin and, on a three-day side trip, Prague.



It took a few cups of coffee to pull together a fairly complete list of our adventures, and a few glasses of red wine to polish it up.


Here's the end result.

For posterity, as well as to erase any lingering fear in my mom's mind that we might have missed something on her list, we:
  • Did a long walking tour of my neighborhood, Charlottenburg
  • Took half a bus tour of the city
  • Dashed into the Berlin Dom (Cathedral) and its crypt
  • Checked out the Gates of Ishtar and Pergamon at the Pergamon Museum

  • Had coffee on Unter den Linden
  • Admired the Brandenburger Tor
  • Were struck by the solmenity of the austere Holocaust Memorial
  • Had dinner at Lutter and Wegner at Gendamenmarkt while the orchestra rehearsed across the street
  • Went to the top of the Reichstag to gape at the view and Sir Norman Foster's dome

  • Explored the interconnected passageways of the Hackescher Hof, using the shops to strategically duck the rain
  • Wandered the Disneyesque Nikolaiviertel (Christmas shop open year round!)
  • Joined the students boning up on Gropius at the Bauhaus Archive
  • Sampled quiche in the food market at KaDeWe
  • Hopped a train to Prague, which has the added bonus of running alongside the Elbe much of the way

  • Gazed in awe from the Charles Bridge as the sun set over the Prague Castle

  • Ate breakfast in Old Town Square
  • Explored the Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral, and Rampart Gardens, then hunted for a mysterious monument we'd noted from above, before giving up to enjoy snacks at two different cafes in a row on the banks of the Spree

  • Slept at the quite decent and incredibly well-located Iron Gates Hotel

  • Were underimpressed by Frank Gehry's Dancing House
  • Had a gourmet meal (didn't count as a third snack) on the Spree
  • Patronized my local Italian restaurant back in Berlin
  • Checked out the contemporary art at the Hamburger Bahnhof (no food involved)

  • Had lunch at a biergarten on a lake and then meandered through the Tiergarten

  • Had another gourmet dinner
  • Found our way to the airport where my mom, I expect, crashed gratefully into her seat and slept the whole way home!

And, oh yes:

  • Consumed a collective 8.4 kilos of spargel, also known as asparagus. Mom's trip coincided with its short season, during which Berliners go crazy for the white stuff.

An incredible week for me, and it's only fitting to have shared it with the woman who introduced me to Europe. (For those who don't know the story, some years ago my mom developed the twisted notion that a 16 year old California boy would certainly enjoy leaving his friends behind and being hauled off to a strange Italian city named after an old lady. Well...I did enjoy it, and the rest is history.)

No comments: