Last day in Berlin. I’ll be sorry to leave. The past couple of months have been amazing. First, new friends. I’m so glad to have met them.
And of course the places. Cork, Killarney, Kinsale, Cobh, Ballycotton, Middleton, Blarney, Bunratty, London, Paris, Rome, Dublin, Berlin.
It’s late and I need to go so here’s a few Berlin pics. There are also some over on Twitter.
At the Neues Museum. Stunning inside.
Apollo looks down the corridor meeting Nefertiti’s unblinking gaze.
The tram is right in front of the hotel. I went to Alexanderplatz and am now waiting in line for 360° Berlin. That’s the top of this:
So I had an hour before I could go up.
I found that Europe is composed entirely of cobblestone. It’s just waiting to trip me up.
And of course, it’s a given that there will be
Because really, you can’t have enough
Adult content after the jump.
Yikes! It’s 20 not 30 kilos. Nice lady didn’t charge me the full amount. I need to check with british air about the cost of a second bag. I think that might be cheaper. Maybe not since I’ll have to buy a new bag.
I’m composing this in the back of a taxi. Possibly suspect because it doesn’t look like several of the others.
Barely made it. Fell asleep immediately last night. Long lines at the airport meant a very very brisk walk to the far away gate.
Nothing to see so far as the highway is walled in by noise barriers. I’ll be at the hotel earlier than the 3pm check in so I’ll have a bit of a wander. Free wifi at the hotel so I should be able to post this soon.
Flight 12 complete. Berlin, here I come.
I love this hotel. Room already waiting. Fab desk clerk. Went over the maps and transport options. Pointed out the Jewish museum. She’d noticed my mostly hidden star of David. Very cool lobby and room.
My view. I’ve not figured out why pics taken as I post turn sideways while the ones already taken do not. Sorry, I’m on holiday. You’ll have to tilt your head.
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Spent Sunday at the palace and gardens. They can only afford to run the fountains for a limited time. Some are on an hour in the morning and all are on for 90 minutes in the afternoon.
What to say about Versailles? There’s a lot of this:
A whole lot of that:
And like the Vatican a bunch of these:
As always the place was infested with locusts:
The grandest of all is of course:
All tucked away in a three storey house.
Les jardins after the jump.
We left as a group but at Chatelet I headed off to La Defense. Google for extensive info. Besides being a compilation of modern & contemporary architecture, its money shot attraction is La Grande Arch.
The Arch is in a direct line with the Arc de Triomphe & was sized so the Arc could fit inside its newer sister. Think Russian nesting dolls only French.
Here’s the view of the Arc from the Arch.
And here’s the Arch from the Arc.
I love La Defense and took several arty shots. From there it was on to the Arc and a walk down the Champs Élysées.
I browsed in Bon Marché for a bit then headed towards one of my favorite spots, the Luxembourg gardens for a nice lunch.
I got turned around & got off course. One of the delights of Paris is happening on lovely things. In this case the lovely St Sulpice.
In the adjacent square was an open air antiques fair. I found this 150 year old print.
I chose that one from several because it’s the interior of St Ètienne, another happened upon discover from my earlier trip.
The Luxembourg is not only beautiful, it’s a favorite of Parisians. Once again I enjoyed the civilities of sharing a park bench.
I debated… Here’s a food pic anyway.
Click for general artiness..
Sitting in the lobby at 1:30am. Here’s a couple so you don’t strain yourself on Twitter. (there will still be some there)
Took the Veddettes du Pont Neuf. Here we’re waiting to depart. Check the sky. It was almost 10pm.
Banks were filled with merry makers.
Caught the tower twinkling.
Lovely night.
Ha. Listening to a woman on the phone here in the lobby. Kept wandering into gay bars. “they were so flamboyant. It was gross.”
And she didn’t know how to order tap water so it was 5€. Poor thing, rough night. Those damn homos.
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Catch the Twitter feed next door for a few pics.
Seine boat ride was nice.
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Yesterday we went to the cliffs of Moher and to Bunratty Castle for a medieval banquet. About to go to a hurling match.
Still working on getting the missing Rome pictures up.
Having a wonderful time, wish you were here.
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The Vatican..
As I wandered around Rome, I realized I was fortunate to be there at a wonderful time. In May the azaleas are on the Spanish steps. The weather is mild without the blazing heat that comes in August. It’s also a shoulder season, so while there are tourists everywhere, you can actually avoid crowds at most places. It was the crowds, confined in the trench around the Trevi fountain that made it not the delightful experience that others have found it.
I mentioned before that there were few visitors to the Paola Fountain. While the Trevi is in the heart of Rome, the Paola is really blessed with the amazing vantage point, even if it doesn’t have the sheer drama of the Trevi statuary.
My experience of small crowds came to an end with my trip to the Vatican Museum, the Sistine and St Peter’s.
I was able to see everything I’d come to see in about 2 hours. I took a taxi to the museum. It’s not clear what line to get in so I headed to the more open one. Turns out that’s for groups. I was directed to a long queue (more than a block long) down a sidewalk next to the wall. There’s a low railing separating the queue from passersby that is punctuated at intervals for entrances & exits. I wasn’t sure how long I was prepared to wait. As I stood deciding I moved over a step and no one yelled. So I found myself near the head of the line. In just 15 minutes I had cleared the metal detectors, paid my fee and was inside the museum. Ok, a little sneaky but no one seemed to mind.
I looked at the map and thought about the time I had left in the day. By now it was 11AM. I found myself taking the abbreviated route to the Sistine. This route goes through the Long Hall, then through former Papal apartments such as the Borgias. ( I imagined Jeremy Irons gliding through) Finally the visit ends at the Sistine.
From there I exited through a door marked for tours and a short walk laterI was in St Peter’s without waiting in any lines or going through more metal detectors. Afterwards I found out this is a Rick Steves tip which saves a 30 minute walk and another long line to get into the Basilica. Lucky me.
To truly appreciate the artworks on display takes an iron constitution. The crowds are large, even in this more lightly traveled season. I kept thinking of Art as a consumable as I went through the very long halls. That’s not to say I didn’t appreciate what I was seeing. You probably know that I love spending time in museums. Here people snap away madly, trying to take a picture of everything. Of course I took a lot of pictures also. Rome almost demands that her picture be taken. What struck me was that almost no one seemed to actually see the works on display. I thought of an entertaining vignette of Louis Auchincloss’ describing tourists in the Louvre clutching their audio guides, like a flock of starlings flitting from one breadcrumb to another ignoring anything in between.
When you finally reach the Sistine even on the abbreviated journey, you’re almost worn out by the amount of works already seen. The Chapel is packed, everyone snapping away. There’s really no way to tune out the din of the crowd and really think about what you’re seeing. There are private after hours tours upwards of $350 that Robert Hughes describes as “ransom to the Vatican.”
Sadly, at least to me, most people expect this kind of atmosphere. Art as Disney extravaganza. As museums around the world discovered the blockbuster exhibit to draw in paying crowds, actual contemplation of what is seen went by the wayside in many cases. If this sounds curmudgeonly it’s because I think it’s a great loss to our souls. I won’t natter on about this, but it was one of the ‘take aways’ from the day.
The Basilica is enormous, but I was fascinated by what I learned of the tricks to make this most stunning church in the world seem more human in scale. Statues close to the ground might be six feet or so, but the ones well above are several feet taller. This gives the appearance of being closer.
The Bernini bronze canopy underneath dome is surprisingly seven stories tall. Even close up it doesn’t seem to be that large. The lettering around the top are seven feet high, again, making it seem closer.
I am sorry I didn’t see the Vatican gardens, get to visit the library or really spend the days the collection deserves. I did get a sense of the place, the seemingly unlimited wealth, and to see a bit of those astounding collections and I am glad of that. I can truly say that what I saw was astonishing, perhaps more as a cascade of visual delights rather than individual works.
The Round Room, and ancient mosaics.
More pics after the jump.
I picked the wrong thumbnail in the previous post. Here is the saint in all his loveliness.
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