München

Tuesday 2/10- There was a lot to do today, so I must eat breakfast. Since the hotel was a bit nicer than my previous abodes, I actually looked forward to eating. Decent spread this time and no busing your own dishes like in the hostel. I had gotten my bearings the previous afternoon/evening, so I proceeded to walk into the center of town.

Even though I only really needed to go to the Glyptothek, I wanted to see a few more things for the short time I had in Munich. I stepped into the Jesuit church which was very much baroque. Then the Frauenkirche, the Cathedral which had been totally destroyed in the war excepting the twin bell towers. The reconstruction was mostly modern- in the 1970s, so the interior is half-gutted. The elevator up the tower was closed for the winter, so I thought I had missed another one of my climbs. Fortunately, after watching the clock on the Rathaus (Town Hall) do its animation in front of dozens of screaming kids, I spied another church with people on its tower.

Since a service was going on in, I backed out and went on the the outdoor market. They really have nice stuff- fresh fruit, cheeses, honey, breads, meats, fish, flowers, etc. I think I could even live in Munich- good food, culture, music, art... In any case, I got a gurken and a cinnamon bun and ate both right away before going back to the church. I paid my 1 euro and started climbing. It was a little higher than I thought, and I suddenly regretted having the pickle/sticky bun mixture churning in my stomach. But the view was worth it- all the way to the Alps. The weather had been partly cloudy and decent, but quickly became cloudy and very windy. When I say windy, I mean gale force. So windy that I hoped the tower had been rebuilt after the war with a steel structure. After braving the winds for a while and watching the clock dance again from on high, it was time to move on. But Munich makes me hungry, so I got a bratwurst from a little shop in the market washed down with a Spezi, which is coke and orange soda mixed together, some kind of local speciality.

Half-Spezi in hand, I walked north, through small streets with shrines on the walls towards the St. Kajetan, with its yellow exterior and incredibly roccoco interior. Across the street is an odd loggia, the Feldherrnhalle- very Italianate. Nearby is where Hitler staged his abortive puscht in the 1920s. Walking towards Königplatz where the museums are located, one passes by the only remaining buildings from the headquarters of the Third Reich, still used as government buildings. Also are the remnant foundations of the temples to the Reich, left to go back to nature.

Finally, the Glyptothek. Seeing the pediments of the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina once more was a treat. I photographed everything in detail, often four or more angles per work. One of the guards befriended me and was obsessed with the Greek originals. I told him in German that I was a Roman Art Historian which seemed to impress him somewhat. Got a good deal of child imagery photographed- a good deal of Greek imagery, which may have some bearing on the establishment of precedents to Roman Art. Unfortunately, time ran out in the Roman portrait section and the woman banging the gong was not going to let me stay a second longer. I knew I would have to come back the next day and finish up the last couple of galleries and delay my departure.

Having an hour before 6pm, I literally ran to the Alte Pinakothek where the old masters are kept, but it turned out that it was open until 8pm. Bonus. Wonderful Titians, Cranachs, Rogier van der Weydens, Rubens, Rembrandts and Fra Angelicos amongst others. I would highly recommend the museum to any art lover. I walked back to the center of town to go to a restaurant I had gone to the last time I was in Munich, the Ratskeller, located under the town hall in a vaulted crypt-like space. The food was not all that good, and my vegetables consisted of a bread dumpling, a potato dumpling, and some sauerkraut. That along with my pork and .5 liter of beer left me a bit bloated. Will try another place next time. A very long day. So endeth the eighth day.

Walking into the old part of town

The Jesuit church, St. Michael

Shrine on house near the Dom

The clock on the City Hall at the moment that the jouster is hit off his horse

Statue of Mary and Jesus in front of City Hall

Detail of Heilig Geist Church

St. Peter's tower with people on top

Viktualienmarkt- cheese and wine stand

Viktualienmarkt- fruit stand

My pickle

City Hall and twin towers of the Frauenkirche from the top of St. Peter's

View of the Alps from the top of St. Peter's

Detail of old mass cards in St. Peter's

Bones of St. Mundicia in St. Peter's

Interior of St. Peter's

Johann Nepomuk Kirche Upper

Johann Nepomuk Kirche Lower

St. Kajetan Kirche (Theatinerkirche) and Feldherrnhalle

Interior of St. Kajetan

Detail of St. Kajetan

Building of the Third Reich

Detail of Rogier van der Weyden altarpiece

Panels of the Evangelists by Cranach the Elder

Jesus by Cranach the Elder

Holy Family by Raphael

Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus by Rubens

Early Self Portrait by Rembrandt

Hellenistic girl with bird

Archer from the west pediment of the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina

Color reconstruction of that archer

Fallen warrior from the east pediment of the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina- this is the moment the Classical style began

Me with fallen warrior from the east pediment of the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina

Me being dork and mimicking the pose of the archer from the east pediment of the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina

Relief of sacrifice with child attendant

Census/sacrificial relief from the base of the so-called Domitius Ahenobarbus altar

Portrait of a Flavian woman

Nero

Portrait of a Roman boy


Wednesday 2/11- No breakfast today. I had to check out, rush over to the Europcar location in the train station to have them call the main location telling them I would be late, but to keep the reservation. Then, I took the subway to Königplatz and finished the Glyptothek. Some museum officials seemed 'concerned' about me taking so many pictures. I think they thought that I might be using them for publication. Informing them of my student status seemed to satisfy them. I said goodbye to my guard friend and got two postcards. I also saw a new book in German on ancient childhood, but decided not to get it to save weight.

I ran across the street to the Altes Museum, where the decorative ancient arts are kept. Got a few good pics of children on Greek vases playing games and such. The exhibition on "Stärke Frauen" was amateur at best. Time to hop on the subway to get my bag. By the station was a Kandinsky exhibition, and the lines were totally insane. No matter. Got my bag, lugged it for about fifteen minutes to the Europcar location. By now it was snowing again, lightly. The lady looked up my reservation and informed me that she didn't have my automatic, but she had a great standard for me. I asked why the car wasn't there, and she said that the person decided to keep it another week. Great excuse. By this time, the snow was blizzard-like outside and there was no way that I was going to drive stick in snow and in a foreign country and old city. She called around in the city- no automatics "nie, never", she kept saying. I was pretty mad at this point. I always have had good experiences with Europcar to this point. The lady finally said she had a luxury Mercedes "Jeep", but that it was €20 more. I tried to argue that it was their fault. Another guy tried to place the blame on me, saying that I was late. But the car wouldn't have been there in the morning anyway!! I didn't have time for this. I paid the extra €20 and resolved myself to call/email Europcar later to complain.

I found the parking lot, go into my new 'luxury jeep', and began my pre-flight checks. The car had navigation, so I programmed a trip to Trier and was off. The snow kept up for quite some time. The weather here is very fickle. One minute it will be blindingly sunny, the next a white out. There were a few white-knuckle moments due to the snow, road construction and Schumacher wannabes in their souped-up Opels. I tried to get off one time for gas, but I messed up and it turned into a 15 minute detour. Luckily the navigation would automatically re-route me, and the German lady would tell me when to turn links and rechts and other various commands. Unluckily, the roads in the old town are not made for 'luxury jeeps', so taking a left, poking out of a little alley onto a major street was not too fun. The next time I stopped for gas would be on the autobahn.

By now it was dark, but at least not snowing. I was approaching Trier, so I pulled off and topped off the tank. The trip cost €80 in gas alone, way more due to the unforeseen increase in the tonnage of my car. I called Europcar on my cell (my first call so far) to let them know I was coming. I had no idea where I was for a long time. I drove in circles, stymied by one-way signs and pedestrian zones. I finally found the Porta Nigra and called the office again. I was very close and pulled in a few minutes later. The car was covered in salt, but none the worse for wear. I got a taxi to my hotel, checked in, and went outside to look for grub. I ended up going to an Indochine place- don't know how authentic it was considering two German women were running it. However, the soup I got was large, healthy and warm, something I needed after the long drive in the snow. Without any surprise, I watched CNNi and BBC World. Mind-numbing. So endeth the ninth day.

Snowy Königsplatz

Caracalla as a boy

Boy strangling goose

Boy on horseback- bronze miniature

Scene outside Europcar- it's really coming down

It's even worse than it looks

Better now

Is that... blue sky?

Why, yes it is! Too bad I'm driving.

Hotel in Trier- nicest yet, probably ever.

Indochine soup

København

Tuesday 2/3- Got into the train station around 12:30 or 1pm. The hotel is right outside the train station- not the nicest area, but not too bad. Since I went to bed at 5:30pm, I didn't see too many shady characters. The city is nice enough, but freezing like Cambridge- 120% humidity and 28 degrees. The shared bathroom isn't too bad, but it will be nice to have my own for the rest of the trip. My room is tiny- about 5 x 11 feet. I can easily touch each wall with my arms spread. After nearly falling asleep and being woken by a hotel dude who came by to give me a remote for the ghetto tv, I decided to set out. I walked around for about three hours or so until I couldn't take the cold and the walking anymore. I went into a few churches (including the Cathedral with its statues by Thorvaldsen) and stores and got a sense of the city. Tomorrow I will go to my main museum here, something I've wanted to do for many years. Maybe I'll have an early dinner at a pub or something. I had a gross red curry chicken and noodles thing with a tiny fanta for dinner at the train station. Even than cost $13 or something. The 75cl water was about $3. So endeth the first day.

Photogenic street by the harbour in Nyhavn

Random ice rink in front of Kongelige Teater

Shot of houses and church spire

The main shopping drag of Strøget

Organ of Helligandskirken

Helligandskirken

Detail outside of Helligandskirken

The interior of the Cathedral with statues by Thorvaldsen

City Hall


Wednesday 2/4- Managed to get all over the city. The entire city is walkable, but you have to mind not getting killed by cyclists. The weather, not so good. There is this thermometer thing in the City Hall square that goes from -20-20 degrees. I have never seen the thing move from -2 to 1 the entire time. It misted and drizzled the entire day- never seen anything like it- maybe Cambridge. It hovered around freezing, so a third of the time it rained, a third it iced and a third it snowed in little pellets. Started by going to the Round tower, which is an observatory from the 17th century. Went into the rest of the churches including the Marble church with its large dome, the Catholic church and the Russian Orthodox church. Saw the Royal palace and the changing of the guard. I did have a nice lunch in a cafe- roast beef sandwich with horseradish sauces that brought me to tears. Was so cold so warmed up by going to the Museum of Danish Resistance, which may be a bit overblown and sort of tries to make up for a good deal of acquiescence to Nazi rule. Then walked to the statue of the Little Mermaid which is not in the scenic position I thought it would be- more like smokestacks and docks for the background. Then walked past the old naval housing and through some old fortifications to the National Gallery which contained more Danish art than I knew existed. Some nice Medieval and Renaissance stuff, too.

By this time it was dark so headed home but detoured to try to find a plug adapter and some food. I found the one electronics store in all of Copenhagen- fona. Amongst all of the Bang & Olufsen TVs and Tivoli radios that made my wallet cry was a plug adaptor kit for 199kr which translates to well over $30. Naturally I balked. On one of the pedestrianised streets I popped into Tiger, a shameless Danish version of Target but the size of a two bedroom house. Went to the Irma supermarket but could only afford two bananas and three small waters. Apparently potato chips are highly revered in Denmark. A small bag (100g) costs $3. The bananas were not in great shape and cost $3. In fact, I'm not sure if anything cost under $3. (As a side note- the smallest coin in the country is 9 cents and I saw it only once in three days.) Found a likely candidate for the adaptor- a supermarket cum mini-Target upstairs. My hopes were dashed when the man told me that they didn't carry any but that it was a shame since many people come in to ask for the very things. Note to self: open adaptor store in Copenhagen. In my quest for the adaptor I settled on Vietnamese take-out which was not great. So endeth the second day.

Sub-tropical gardens in the Glyptothek

Bronze portrait of a Roman man

Vespasian

Detail of Caligula's eye with paint remnants

Portrait of a Roman boy

Pompey the Great

A Roman woman of the Flavian era

Portrait of Matisse's wife

Old quarters for Danish sailors

A think piece on how war is incompatible with the tenets of religion, or woman jogging in front of cannon with church.

You are so beautiful, to me...

Like the American Indian tear commercial from the 70s...

Swans around the old fortifications

The marble church in the distance over the moat

The Little Mermaid

Random Anglican church

Catholic Cathedral

View of Marmorkirken from Amelienborg Palace

Changing of the Gaurd at Amelienborg Palace #3

Changing of the Gaurd at Amelienborg Palace #2

Changing of the Gaurd at Amelienborg Palace #1

Russian Orthodox Cathedral

Marmorkirken Dome

Marmorkirken

Old Christmas trees in the masts of the ships (see Berlin photos)

Trinitatis Kirke Detail

Trinitatis Kirke Nave (the organist happened to be playing)

Trinitatis Kirke altar

Ice from freezing mist on the top of the Round Tower

View of Church of Our Saviour from Round Tower

Looking south from the Round Tower (left to right: City Hall, Cathedral, St. Peter's)

For some odd reason they don't take the old notices down...

The Round Tower

Niels Bohr outside the University

St. Peter's


Thursday 2/5- After dealing with the appalling snoring of my neighbor with my trusty earplugs for two nights, it was time to move to the Hotel Absalon down the street. It was a palace- ensuite bathroom and I couldn't even touch the wall with my arms outstretched! All this can be yours for $160 a night. Not giving up in my quest for the adaptor, I went to the Tourist office in the morning to inquire. I told her about the fona experience and she told me that she thought that 199kr was a good price! They are out of their minds! So, having failed in my quest, I set out to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptothek, a museum that I had wanted to go to for many years. Even though I couldn't use my Getty badge to get in for free, I wasn't disappointed. I saw many old friends for the first time this day. The one thing I couldn't do was eat, since the cheapest thing on the menu was a focaccia chicken sandwich for $30. Even the little tortes were $6. I pushed through on gum. Unfortunately the light, if you can call it that, gave out around 4:15 and the museum was closing, so I knew I had to come back the next day in a 1 hour window before I had to dash to the airport.

Not wanting a third horrible meal, I headed towards the University where earlier I had spied a little restaurant, Det Lille Apotek. After getting purposefully lost to pass some time and wandering through the huge department store, Illum (still on my quest), I got to the restaurant. It is half below street level with old decor. Apparently it is the oldest restaurant in Copenhagen and was frequented by Hans Christian Andersen, etc. When I first arrived there were two big tables filled with men around one and women the other. Very old school and quite a find. I mowed a quasi veal culotte with roasted potatoes, sauerkraut and carrots and then ate an ice cream sundae. Fully satisfied, I got back to the hotel by 8pm. So endeth the third day.


Friday 2/6- After leaving my luggage at the hotel, I made my final trek in Copenhagen back to the Glyptothek to finish taking pictures. The woman remembered me and let me in for free. I then made one purchase at the bookstore, and made a beeline to the hotel, picked up my bag and went to the station to catch my train. On the way I pulled out my phone to snap a picture of the ubiquitous 7-Elevens which strangely dominate the convenience store market in Copenhagen. Who knew? I was almost looking forward to the flight, not having seen the sun or blue sky for three days. After the uneventful hop, I landed in Berlin Tegel, which I thought was the nicer airport but not so. After walking past the vacant passport control station (nice), I got my bags off the conveyor while still 50 feet from the plane! At least it was speedy... With no trains to the airport I managed to get on a Bus to Alexanderplatz in old East Berlin to get on the U-Bahn to my hostel.

The Meiniger Hostel is very modern and my room is actually quite decent with a huge handicapped bathroom. For some reason they gave the 31 year-old American, nearly a senior citizen in this place, the handicapped bathroom. In any case, there is an organic market around the corner and an Indian restaurant where I got take-out. All in all, with wi-fi, organic potato chips and my own bathroom with arm rails, this is the nicest hostel ever and apparently a good place to be laid up for a while. Oh, and I got an adaptor at the Copenhagen airport for the bargain price of 79kr or about $14. Mission accomplished. So endeth the fourth day.