kreuzberg sonata

Apologies for not blogging yesterday; we don't have Internet in our apartment in Berlin, and we got back too late last night for me to seek out a hotspot. I may not be able to remember anything about yesterday since I didn't blog about it last night as usual, but hopefully you'll get the highlights.

Our apartment in Berlin is great; it has a sleeping space separated from a cute little living room by a curtain, and the kitchen more than meets our needs since we aren't cooking. Sadly, the tv doesn't work, and so while I can quite easily amuse myself by writing, Chandlord doesn't care to spend much time there. This is probably good for me, but it's hard to remember that when I'm dealing with both the remnant effects of my now-medicated possible-ulcer and the cold that started forming yesterday. It's like I've got a tropical storm season going on with my health: hurricane ulcer, followed by tropical depression cold (that I hope won't turn into anything worse), followed by who knows what else.

Anyway, enough whining. Chandlord and I left the apartment yesterday with grand plans to see some museums, which we accomplished despite the steady rain and wind. We went first to the Pergamonmuseum, which hosts a lot of antiquities that the Germans took from Greece and Mesopotamia; as far as I know, they weren't any worse than the British about this, and in any event they lost some of their stuff to the Soviets (who haven't deigned to give it back), but it's still a little crazy that so many things, like the Pergamon altar and the great Ishtar gate, both of which take up gigantic rooms all their own, ended up in Berlin rather than in their original sites. But, it was super convenient for me, since I won't be making it to Babylon anytime soon, and I got some more ideas for my gargoyle series (which I will have to start cutting back at some point), so that was great.

After that museum, we made a quick stop at the Neues Museum, mostly to see the famous bust of Nefertiti, which was as beautiful as any picture you've seen of it. Happily, we'd gotten a metro card that included entry to some museums, so we were able to skip the hour long rain-drenched line for tickets at both museums, which was key. Smug about our success, we wandered around and had a late lunch/early dinner (whatever a meal at 4pm is) at a fancy Italian restaurant - we split a mozzarella burrata, I had an awesome saffron pasta with bacon while Chandlord had a great ravioli, and then we followed up our meal with tea for me and coffee for Chandlord. It was one of the best meals I've had here, so it was quite successful even if I felt too drenched and grungy to be in such a lovely establishment.

After "lunch", we walked down Unter den Linden and saw the Brandenburg Gate, still obscured by rain. Then we went back to our apartment, where I took an hour to write while Chandlord discovered that the tv didn't work. Mostly, though, the reason to go back to the apartment was because my shoes were soaked; it is no wonder that I have a cold developing, since it's rained almost every day since the wedding. Vidya finally dragged me away from my notebook and out into the city; our destination was a bar in Kreuzberg, which is an up and coming area of former east Berlin that is quickly being overrun by artists, hipsters, and their ilk. The bar was utterly ridiculous in a good way; the decorations were artistically appealing/appalling, the drinks were pretty cheap and generous, and it gradually became quite packed over the course of the evening. We ended up striking up conversation with some girl whose mother lives in Stillwater, Oklahoma (and so we bonded, since I spent several days stranded there after my brother's graduation), although the girl has lived in Europe for the past eight years making some sort of living as a bartender/artist, so she's clearly too cool for me. When we parted ways, Chandlord and I had doner kebab, which turned out to be mildly ill-advised, and then stumbled home.

We didn't get back to our apartment until almost two, and I warned Vidya that I was unlikely to want to get up early to see the jewish museum that I have already seen. So, she left this morning without me, and I've had a relaxing time lying in bed, showering, and making my way to east Berlin, where I will meet her in a bit (after I get some writing done). Perhaps I'll blog tonight, or perhaps I won't, but either way, more fun awaits!