Touring Berlin today. We were off to a late start since hubby just came in from Nigeria yesterday. I was up late doing blogs and accounting and he was awake promptly at 6 a.m. and promptly went back to sleep. So ended up without a lot of time to see things but managed to get to the far side of town to see Schloss Charlottenburg. What a gorgeous place. Like many palaces, just imagining the life that they had is incredulous. Some parts of the palace had been damaged during the war but most of it had been restored and the furniture either original or close approximations. Just trying to comprehend how elaborate the decorations are that you are seeing boggles the mind. The painted ceilings, the bas relief in gold leaf and mirrors. Just everywhere you look is something new and beautiful. They sure don't make many wallpapers like that anymore and where would you even find someone with the skills to do the vines and flowers up the walls.
Some of the rooms were covered in portraits. Usually the audio guide would say something like, "This room used to hold 80 paintings". Every time they said that, I would look around and think the paintings must have covered the wall from floor to ceiling so no wonder this wallpaper still looks so good. It never saw the light of day when the castle was in use. Unfortunately I don't have an appreciation for the portrait painting. I'm not versed in German and Prussian history other than the major figures so when they are rattling off architects and pianists and painters and composers, they don't really mean anything to me. But I do appreciate the intricacy of the palace and the extravagance of the rooms.
I do wish that I were an important enough person or a rich enough person that I could arrange "behind the scenes" tours where I can go down the secret staircases and see the dressing rooms full of the queens wardrobe. Sometimes I think that those bits would be far more interesting that the grand ballroom or queen's bedchamber that no longer has a bed. And I love to see kitchens and you rarely get to see them on these tours, or the servants quarters. Servant quarters always tell a lot about the life of the times, I think.
We did the entire palace that was allowed which included the new wing added later. It took us awhile to get through the entire place and we hardly ever even hit the extra buttons to get more information about whichever painting it was. Then out to the garden and wandered down to the water for a few photos.
This took up a good part of the day but we managed to find our way back into town and get on a tour boat which went up and down the river Spree for an hour. That gave us a good look at some of the buildings and get a bit more history on some of them. Unfortunately we had sat right next to the speakers and didn't realize it until it was too late to move. Now I do have a headache.
After the boat it was too late to go to a single museum as most were either closed or closing sooner than we could get there. Wandered down the street and found a Tex-Mex restaurant. We are well known for trying things we like in other countries which always, always, always means it is not going to be anything like what we know and love. Tonight was not an exception. What can you expect of Tex-Mex food in Berlin. But it wasn't bad, just very different. It's the Pavlov's dog experiment. Just often enough we come across a Mexican restaurant in another country that is good enough to make us keep trying them.
Tomorrow we go to Dresden. May not have time when we get back to blog.
Some of the rooms were covered in portraits. Usually the audio guide would say something like, "This room used to hold 80 paintings". Every time they said that, I would look around and think the paintings must have covered the wall from floor to ceiling so no wonder this wallpaper still looks so good. It never saw the light of day when the castle was in use. Unfortunately I don't have an appreciation for the portrait painting. I'm not versed in German and Prussian history other than the major figures so when they are rattling off architects and pianists and painters and composers, they don't really mean anything to me. But I do appreciate the intricacy of the palace and the extravagance of the rooms.
I do wish that I were an important enough person or a rich enough person that I could arrange "behind the scenes" tours where I can go down the secret staircases and see the dressing rooms full of the queens wardrobe. Sometimes I think that those bits would be far more interesting that the grand ballroom or queen's bedchamber that no longer has a bed. And I love to see kitchens and you rarely get to see them on these tours, or the servants quarters. Servant quarters always tell a lot about the life of the times, I think.
We did the entire palace that was allowed which included the new wing added later. It took us awhile to get through the entire place and we hardly ever even hit the extra buttons to get more information about whichever painting it was. Then out to the garden and wandered down to the water for a few photos.
This took up a good part of the day but we managed to find our way back into town and get on a tour boat which went up and down the river Spree for an hour. That gave us a good look at some of the buildings and get a bit more history on some of them. Unfortunately we had sat right next to the speakers and didn't realize it until it was too late to move. Now I do have a headache.
After the boat it was too late to go to a single museum as most were either closed or closing sooner than we could get there. Wandered down the street and found a Tex-Mex restaurant. We are well known for trying things we like in other countries which always, always, always means it is not going to be anything like what we know and love. Tonight was not an exception. What can you expect of Tex-Mex food in Berlin. But it wasn't bad, just very different. It's the Pavlov's dog experiment. Just often enough we come across a Mexican restaurant in another country that is good enough to make us keep trying them.
Tomorrow we go to Dresden. May not have time when we get back to blog.
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