April 17 Friday

Boy was I tired when I woke up this am. I had a fever in the night, I woke up FRIGID cold and cuddled up to luke and covered me with my and his duvet. I woke up later just soaked in sweat. My throat hurt so bad this morning, I could do little more than clear my throat.

We got ready pretty quick. Luke made an egg sandwich with swiss cheese and german senf (mustard). My hair went in a pony tail and we were off. It is cooler out today like mid 60s. Still nice, sunny.

We took the metro and went first to the Bergguen Museum which is a mostly Picasso. There were some tours of kids from school who were rowdy and couldn't care less. I found that I liked the pencil and pen drawings. Yes, we did see several portrait paintings of the divided faces and the eyes hanging off the face. I also liked some of his doodle pictures that were framed and on scratch paper.

We went through that museum very quickly and it was on our Museum card. Just across the courtyard is the Brohan museum which is devoted to art deco era furnishings, and tableware. It was also on the museum card, though we did have to pay 2 € for the special exhibit.

I really liked this museum. But then again, I love glass and dishes and silverware and pretty pieces of furniture. It was quiet, we could go though the lovely rooms at our own pace, not having to read or study, just enjoy. I was so glad we went.

We then took the bus/ subway to the Gemaldgalerie which holds paintings from 1400s -1900. We had trouble finding the entrance, we followed an American couple that was on our same bus. There were many religious pictures of course, some big names like Caravaggio, German Lucas Cranach, Durer, Rubens and Botticelli. We got a free audio guide so they meant a bit more to us. The museum was GIGANTIC though, so even walking quickly, it took an hour plus. We hurried. We even saw the American couple again as we exited.

Then we decided to quick head to the Jewish Museum across town. Luke wasn't too keen to go to this one. Especially since I vetoed him on the Bendlerblock exhibit/memorial.

I decided I needed to smooth out tensions so I offered Luke a Doner Kebab. He ate it and thought it was the perfect food. We sat on a bench in a courtyard with a defunct fountain.
We watched the dogs enjoy the little bits of green grass. We even splurged and bought a Coke Light. It tasted so good.

We walked by a Kaiser's store. It is a grocery chain. We stopped there later and bought some cheese (by the pound)- butter Kase. Delicious.


We did resist the temptation to buy a plastic bag that says Kaiser's.

We finally got to the Jewish museum. We went first to the special exhibit called deadly medicine. We didn't even have to pay for that. They talked about the forced sterilization of people in mental institutions and how eventually, children diagnosed with certain “hereditary” diseases like blindness, deafness, schizophrenia etc were “disinfected” and shipped away and killed. It was pretty tragic. It was interesting to see the propaganda “if we don't practice conscientious breeding all the population will be compromised” In some of the orphanages/hospitals the kids were starved to death as a common practice. In these exhibits they provided documentation in the form of nurses notes documenting the weight changes and the food rationing taking place.

We went through the rest of the fragmented museum very quickly. We only read the exhibits towards the end. Mom and Dad said is was so big it would take 4 hours to get through it reading everything. Plus, we were wiped out. So, we didn't' give this museum the attention it deserved. We got out of that museum at 5.30. We took the U6 all the way home with no changes.

At the store we saw a CUTE puppyish Jack russel tied up outside. Some kids tried to pet her and she didn't quite trust them, they got closer to her and I thought she was going to nip. They eventually left her alone. Luke wanted to pet her. We have seen all manner of little dogs and big dogs. Many of the dogs on the street are NOT on leashes. Many seem to be scruffy and woolly looking, lots of karin terriers.

All the German people have been kind to us. Even the people in the museums. In many other cities the attendants get harded because of all the tourist traffic. We haven't felt scared or like I needed to hold onto my purse or putting it in front of me other than when we are in a really tight location.

We see people drinking beer all over in the street. Not really drunks but just drinking beer.

Luke made creamed leeks and little pizzas w/ cheese and sausages. I got chicken noodle soup. We also had some strawberries on the table. For appetizer dad made a cheese plate and liverpate' on pieces of bread. We are drinking ultra high temp pasteurized milk from a box that doesn't need to be stored refrigerated. It is quite yummy and reasonable.

Luke drank two 0.5L beers this evening. I am going to let him add the pictures to the blog. That is all I know for now.

Only going to bed early is on my list. Tomorrow should be a more quiet day for us. Maybe we'll get to sleep in. ljf