Day: October 27, 2022

Europe 2022 Day 22 “More Opera?” Berlin, Germany 10/28/2022

by reissmd, posted in Berlin, Germany

When I left you yesterday we were on our way to the opera. Patrice bought tickets to see Il Trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi. For those of you who are not opera buffs, I’ll tell you a little about the story. It takes place in Zaragosa, Spain in the 1500s. Question: If it takes place in Spain why are they singing in Italian and supplying libretto interpretations in German and English? The story starts with a Count sentencing a gypsy woman (already not politically correct) to be burned at the stake for being a witch. While she is being burned she yells out to her daughter to avenge her death. The daughter then proceeds to kidnap one of the Count’s sons. She plans to throw the son into the flames but in her excited state throws her own son into the fire. Yes, you are reading this correctly, it is not a typo. And this is just Act I. The story gets worse but I’ll spare you those details. There was one reassuring thing that happened to me. While exiting the theater Patrice said to me, “I don’t think I am an opera person”. THANK GOD!

This morning we again started the day with wonderful service and a delicious breakfast at the Hotel de Rome (Behrenstraße 37, 10117 Berlin). Patrice had read about KaDeWe. This is a megastore with every imaginable commodity. It is more like a mall than a store. They have lots of very high-end merchandise.

From the Ubahn (subway station) it just looked like a big office building, nothing all that special. See below.

As you enter you can tell this will not just be an ordinary store. Look below to see who greeted us.

The first booth we saw upon entering was Louis Vitton and they had a line of people wanting to get in. See below.

Next door was the Rolex watch store where a security guard would only allow one customer in at a time. See the prices of these watches to know why. Here is one for €37,350.

Maybe this is more your style for only €17,600

Possibly you would prefer a bargain. Try this one for only €13,750.

Personally, I would be embarrassed to wear one of these watches. I couldn’t even imagine sitting with a salesperson looking at these things. It just reaffirms my notion that some people just have too much money. If you’re one of those people, please just ignore the previous sentence.

KaDeWe also has some fun stuff. Check out these donuts.

Seeing all this food made us hungry so we went to Käfer Dachgarten (Platz der Republik 1 Reichstagsgebäude, 11011 Berlin) for “High Tea”. The surroundings were great and we really enjoyed this relaxing time and snack. The restaurant offers a prix fixe meal with your only choice being the dessert. If you look at the pictures below you will see the “food” is tiny but the dessert (on the top tier of the tray) is rather sizeable.

I ordered the “White Coffee Edition” See below.

Patrice ordered the “Honey Mousse Edition”. See below

In order to enter this restaurant we had to show identification and go through security because the restaurant is part of the Reichstag (parliament) which is the home of the German Bundestag (the lower house of the German parliament). Just outside the restaurant, there is a dome that was not open when we toured this area earlier in the week with Daniel. We were a little early for our restaurant reservation so we tried to tour the dome prior to tea. I wanted to find out the duration of the audio guide so I asked the young man who was collecting them. To my surprise, he didn’t speak English (all the other young people we have met here speak excellent English). I was undaunted, I pulled out Google translate and showed him my question in German. I then turned on the microphone and he spoke his answer. I looked at Google translate which told me he said “F-¢k I need Sunday”. I think and hope there was an error involved. We decided to come back after High Tea. On our return I was very pleased that we got to visit this structure. The city views were fantastic and the audio guide reinforced the information we have previously been told. Check out this view of the Brandenburg gate.

Well, it is time for us to pack and check in for our flight tomorrow. My last post for the trip will be tomorrow and I am planning to send a bunch of photos that have caught my interest. Thank you so much for your comments. It has made this very special trip even more wonderful.

sichere Reisen (safe travels)

Europe 2022 day #21. “The End is Approaching” Berlin, Germany 10/27/2022

by reissmd, posted in Berlin, Germany

Our trip has almost come to an end. Some of you might be disappointed to know that you won’t be receiving daily emails about my blog posts. Others are probably saying, “Finally I can go to my email without fear”. Last night after a busy day, we looked for a relaxing place to have dinner. We decided to go to PeterPaul (Torstraße 99, 10119 Berlin). Upon arrival, I said, “Rice, party of two” and we were immediately taken to a table. We soon became aware this would not be a quiet relaxing dinner. The place was packed with customers (on a Wednesday night?) and it was loud. Patrice and I enjoyed the art on the walls and inquired about them. The person we asked was the owner, David PeterPaul. He told us the artwork was all made by his grandfather. He then brought us a book with all of his grandfather’s paintings. David was 9 when his grandfather died and he told us they were very close. It made me feel a little sentimental because of my close feelings for my 4 grandsons. Dinner was spectacular.

They gave us corn soup “on the house”. It was a very small cup but very delicious. See below

I had the chicken, sorry I started to eat before I remembered to take a picture (see below).

Patrice ordered something that we were told had sausage. I didn’t like it very much. I later read it was pig stomach. I am glad I didn’t know that prior to eating it. See below.

We also shared Curry Wurst. This is typically a snack you can buy from small shops in various neighborhoods. We were told this was an upscale version. See below.

Of course, we couldn’t pass on dessert. Our server, Schteffie, recommended Schtocolate with Schterries (aka chocolate with cherries). See below.

This morning we got ready to see what else Berlin had to offer. Our travel agent, Gwen, and her local representative, Dana, gave us a free driver today for a couple of hours to make up for the last-minute tour change due to Daniel getting Covid. Gwen and Dana have been very responsive to our needs. It is a great feeling to know someone is watching over you when you are so far from home.

Our driver was again Marcus who has been great. He first drove us to the site of John F. Kennedy’s famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech. I looked around and stared at the balcony from which JFK spoke. The final words of the speech started to resonate in my brain and I began to tear up. Luckily I took a picture of the balcony and not of myself. See below.

If you are interested in listening to the historic 9-minute speech please go to this Wikipedia link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ich_bin_ein_Berliner. The Wikipedia post also discusses the myth that instead of Kennedy proclaiming in German, “I am a Berliner” he supposedly said, “I am a jelly donut”. If he had said that I am sure JFK would have been the first to make fun of himself.

After this short stop, Marcus took us to the Jewish Museum. This was interesting but unfortunately, I don’t think we devoted enough time to it. Of course, there were some very heart-wrenching exhibits but there were some more upbeat ones as well. One of my favorites was the drawings of some famous Jews of the past.

They had Albert Einstein. See below.

The hilarious Marx brothers were Jewish. See below.

And of course this very popular Jew.

Marcus then took us back to the hotel so we could rest up for our afternoon tour with Jörg. The afternoon mostly consisted of visiting the Neues and Pergamon Museums which included seeing amazing antiquities. My pictures won’t do it justice. But I will try.

First, Babylon, which was brought to Germany in the 1930s.

Next Babylon with a King and Queen superimposed on the great city.

I can’t write any more now because Patrice bought us tickets to the opera and it is time to go. I need to get dressed and find my book.

Bis morgen