After the tour, xxoos and I, our curiosity piqued by an advertisement we saw that promised 2 football fields of food, went to the KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens), a huge shopping centre. Unfortunately, the price was not to our liking (even though xxoos has proclaimed that she has no budget). We were also slightly disappointed because half of the 6th floor was filled with half-prepared food to bring home instead of cooked food you could eat on the spot; the 7th floor had a restaurant but from the 6th it looked even more expensive so we passed. The only thing priced similarly to the rest of Berlin was the ice cream - €1/kugel.
We ended up in a restaurant near the Zoo train station.
She had boring schnitzel (which we had earlier in the day, too) but I was more adventurous and had stuffed cabbage (with meat inside) with mashed potatoes in bacon gravy. It was fantastic.
xxoos then played with her camera to produce a series of images of me by candlelight, one of which has been posted on this blog already to near-unanimous cries of pain and anguish. One of the few people who likes the picture is a Gackt fan. Somehow this does not surprise me.
xxoos claims that by not squashing my arms they look less fat, and opening the fingers makes them look longer and slimmer. Uhh...
In the Berlin subway the machine asks you to "cancel" your ticket before you travel. Wth.
In some stations in the Berlin metro you have multiple lines using the same tunnel and having passengers get on and off at the same platform. You only get this with German efficiency! Apparently it's a relic from the Prussian days.
In London you have announcements telling you to Mind The Gap. In Berlin they need to tell you to mind the platform - one train I was on was lower than the platform so I tripped (but didn't fall) when exiting the car.
Germany trip: 28/5 Berlin
xxoos wanted to go on the Third Reich walking tour and I wanted to view a museum, so we went our separate ways, agreeing to meet up in the afternoon.
I had quarktasche (quark pastry) for breakfast. It was interesting, but I prefer my quark cold, sweet and with fruit. Incidentally quark is a German dairy product made with buttermilk. It's like yoghurt, except not sour. I dislike yoghurt, but kwark (as it's called here) is nice.
I visited the Gemäldegalerie (Painting Gallery) first. There were concessions for schoolchildren, students (apparently distinct from schoolchildren) and people in compulsory military or community service. Hah! One great thing was that a concession ticket (for students at least) was only €4, a student day ticket to 50+ state-owned Berlin museums €6 (IIRC) and the best bit was that a 3-day ticket to the 50+ museums was only €7,50 - less than it cost for one day at the Louvre. The woman at the counter told me it was valid for 4 days, but I don't think the Germans have a different conception of time where 3 days doesn't include the first day of validity so it was probably for 3.
The Gemäldegalerie was huge. They have 3000 paintings but display only 1500 at a time. Nonetheless, that's a lot of paintings. And the audioguide was free too, albeit needing a deposit of an identity card or some such (how many audioguides do museums lose each year, I wonder?)
The 15th and 16th century German paintings had a style which I'd almost never seen before, one best described as "Weird" and unnatural. For example:
Lucas Cranach - Johannes Carion, 1530
The head and body are out of proportion, making the guy look like the Kingpin
I think the reason I was unsettled was that there's a grasping tendency towards some of the ideals of Renaissance portrayal of human figures, but they're still held back by Medieval stiltedness, resulting in a very odd blend. At least in Medieval art you expect the stiltedness, but here it's neither here nor there. Alternatively this may be why the most famous painters don't come from Germany.
Meister des Aachener Altars (Master of the Aachen Altar) - Die anbetung der heiligen drei konige
Here, the people's faces look pudgy and porcine, especially the Nubian King's, and the Virgin Mary's
Another piece from the Antwerp Master had one woman who looked like she was from the Karen in Burma - her neck was horrendously elongated. I've never been so struck by a neck in a painting. One may point out the Antwerp is in Belgium, so it's not a German thing, but the Flemish/Dutch pictures I've seen elsewhere aren't like that so maybe Germans like such pictures. Also, the German paintings from this period were more hideous than the Flemish ones - walking down from the German to the Dutch/Flemish sections, the paintings got nicer, giving further credence to my theory/ies; the Italian ones were the best, of course.
Petrus Christus - Portrait of a young woman, 1470
Die thronende Madonna - Quentin Massys, 1525
I don't think I've seen her bestowing her kiss before.
Hendrick de Clerck - Minerva and the Muses, undated
Cornelis de Vos - Magdalena and Jan Baptist de Vos, 1621/2
Jan Gossaert - Neptune and Amphitrite, 1516
I was annoyed by the conch shell. Which reminds me - I've seen sculpted penises before, but I can't recall any painted ones.
Piero di Cosimo - Venus, Mars and Eros, 1505
Venus has conquered Mars despite his armour. I've no idea wth the cherubs are doing in the picture - perhaps it's syncretism. And at first I thought Mars was a female.
Cima da Conegliano - Madonna and Child Enthroned with St. Peter, St. Romuald, St. Benedict, and St. Paul - 1495/1497
I was struck by the incredible painted mosaic. It's based on a real mosaic in St Marco's Church in Venice
Rosso Fiorentino, Portrait of a Young Man - 1516/18
Why would anyone want such a disturbing portrait?! The sitter must've been truly disturbed to want this.
I saw more paintings of the Virgin Mary breastfeeding. Apparently it's a common theme in paintings and is a references to Luke 11.
Oberdeutsch, Szenen aus dem leben des hl Bruno und der geschichte des kartauserodens
The KKK-like headdress disturbs me. I know the Cisternians had white habits - but the pointy hood?!
Michele di Matteo da Bologna, Zehn einzelgestalten von heiligen vad engeln (undated)
Orazio Gentileichi, David and the Head of Goliath - 1610/12
He looks pensive rather than triumphant
Giovanni Paolo Panini, Fantasy landscape with Roman monuments - 1735
Giovanni Paolo Panini, Setting out of Duke de Choiseul from St Peter's Square in Rome - 1754
Maria Angelica Kauffmann - Bacchantin, 1782
This female painter was forbidden to go to art school so her family got private tutors. Or something.
Pompeo Girolamo Baton - Marriage of Cupid and Psyche, 1756
Vermeer - Woman with a pearl necklace
Neo-classicism is my favourite school of art.
Joachim Anthonisz Wtewael - Kuchenstuck mit dem gleichais von grossen gastmahl, 1605
This piece takes art symbolism too far. The onion, carrot and artichokes are aphrodisiacs, spitting the chicken is a sexual reference, the fish is an erotic symbol and the basket of eggs represents sensuality. In the background there's a biblical scene with the parable of the feast. The juxtaposition is supposed to be some sort of commentary.
Throende Maria mit dem Segnenden kind & Hl. Petronius, Katharina, Alexandrien, Dominic & Apollonia
Antonio Allegri, gen. Correggio - Leda and the Swan, 1532
A duke commissioned this piece for his mistress's apartment. A French dauphin took offence at it and in a fit of religious frenzy cut it up. It was restored but the head was destroyed. Gah.
Titian - Venus and the Organist, 1550/2
Sofonisba Anguissola - Portrait of Bianca Ponzoni Anguissola, 1557
Giovanni Battista Maroni - Duke of Albuquerque Don Gabriel de la Cueva, 1560