Saturday, November 2, 2002

people viewing buddy bears

a toast at Georg

Sony Center reflection

"We are never happy: we can only remember that we were so once.."
Akexander Smith

We have decided (last night) to meet at the Bus 100 stop at 10:15. After another hearty breakfast, I take off on the U-bahn to the Internet Cafe and my friends are planning a stroll down the street LG lived on a decade ago (Pariserstrasse). LG's cousin will meet us at the Bus Stop as well. We assemble there and make our way to the top of the bus. Bus 100 goes right by sites like the Bellevue and Siegessäule (victory column) and on along by the Reichstag and Unter den Linden.

We get off at Unter den Linden and admire the Brandenburger Tor (Gate), recently refurbished. Then we look at an exhibit of 'buddy bears.' The bears are plastic resin bears, all identical, then decorated by artists to represent scores of countries. They will be exhibited through this month and then auctioned to benefit UNICEF. We admire the art and observe the messages and snap pix. It's kind of like those plastic cows you see everywhere, only bears for Berlin which make more sense. Although maybe the cows made sense where they started. The cows seemed sillier where they spread, though, like London. (Mad cow?) The USA bear is a statue of liberty.

Some bears aren't upright around town and there are some babies but all the buddy bears representing countries have this stance.

Like the wrapped Reichstag this is one of those 'you had to be here at the right time' deals.

We walk to Gendarmenmarkt because (this is a theme when you travel with Pam) there is a chocolate store 'am Gendarmenmarkt'. We find it and it is huge. Those of you who have been to Berlin know that the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche (the 19th century church tower, top lopped off and gutted, left to remind us of the destruction of wars) is kind of a symbol of Berlin. Of course, one snaps pictures of it. I know I did on other trips. Not this time, though. This time I only shot the chocolate one at this store. (Unless you count a reflection that appears later.) The squat and tall modern buildings are the actual church now. Well, actually these are chocolate, but, you know.

Georgbraü in the Nikolaiviertel is our next stop. Because we are hungry and thirsty? Well, because it's time for lunch anyway.

This is a brew pub that has been here since I've been coming to Berlin in the 'post wall' era. (I'm suspecting there wasn't a brew pub here when it was part of the east when I visited in 1972. The quarter wasn't even reconconstructed until 1987 to celebrate the 750th anniversary of the foundation of the town.)

I have a beef stew with rot köhl mit apfel (red cabbage prepared with apples) and a .2 liter beer brewed on the premises. (I guess, craft-brewed anyway).

We walk to Potsdamer Platz. It isn't that far but I'm starting to be weary. We settle in at a crowded place in the Sony Center (a complex of offices and stores and eateries with a soaring glass roof). It is too crowded but we get a coffee. LG's younger relative and her son are driving over to meet us. She keeps the youngster out of the bar when she arrives (too warm, too much smoke) and has a coffee outside where we join her. (We should have done this...we are the only ones sitting outside in the cold, though.) We go across to another complex of stores, theaters, casino and finally have a toast, again the only ones having it on the sidewalk even though this place has those heater things.

None of this complex was here the last time we visited, three years ago. It was a construction site.

The young mother piles us into her mini-van with the kid and takes us to our hotel while her mom takes a bus home. We will gather again for a nice evening with the older woman and her boyfriend.

We gather ourselves up, change clothes and such and walk a little further to a different U-bahn station and go to the apartment of LG's cousin. We have sekt with Cassis (Kir Royale) and everyone takes snapshots of groups on the couch. We've been here on this couch shooting before. I'm sure we don't look older this year!

Then we go to Landauer. It is a restaurant in their neighborhood. It has traditional food. I have stew with red cabbage again but this is the venison version and it is delicious. We drink beer. We talk. It is fun.

Our hosts see us to the U-bahn and we are back to the hotel. This is my friends' last night. They will leave in the morning while I sleep in.

JUST TYPING
Art is everywhere.
An interpretation.
Of life's movie.