Kulturbrauerei

We strolled through one of the vast Culture Breweries in Prenzlauer Berg.
In the ninetheenth century, vast beer breweries were constructed in a Neo-Renaissance style. Now these brew culture instead, and they serve up installations, cafes, cinema, etc. Shellen claims that due to the angle I use when trying to capture a picture of myself and the surrounding architecture, all the pictures I take of myself have a rather "Vera triumphing over the world" feel. Not satisifed with my cute pose atop of LIEBE (love), she suggested I strike a more heroic one, from which she recoils in horror.

Then we took a trip to the KunstGewerbeMuseum to see cool objects, before heading off for the final day of the Berlinale at the headquarters of the whole festival, the Berlinale Palast, which is built like the Met and seats 1600 people. We saw a Korean film, " I am a Cyborg but that's ok" on one of the biggest and best screens anywhere. We topped off the day with sushi from one of those sushi places where you can pick your little dishes off of a revolving conveyor belt.

Carnival!

Then we randomly ran into Carnival along Ku'damm, the main shopping thoroughfare. The people on the floats, threw candy at the crowds, who carried inverted umbrella to catch this "world turned upside down" shower of sweets. The kids had the time of their lives, and proved very quick at picking up the candy. with great difficulty I managed to retrieve a lollipop, but the great highpoint, of course, was my picture with the chicken. The juxtaposition of Sponge BoB and the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kirche was a sight to be remembered.

Route 66

When I returned to Berlin, what a day it was. It started out with the all you can eat brunch at the famous Route 66 American diner.

Oompah Band

Yes, Wolfenbuettel can well be called an overly picturesque place. When I arrived at the train station, the Lessingstadt Muzikanten, complete with Lederhosen, were in full swing. As the strains of a waltz came to a close, a tiny two car train chugged up to the platform. It was time to return to Berlin.

Chocolate Kiss

It was hard to stay healthy in Wolfenbuettel. A small bottle of water cost me 1 euro 14 cents in this store, yet for only 50 I could have got a "chocolate kiss sandwich" - a role stuffed with a confection of marshmallow, chocolate, and waffle!

At my hotel, breakfast was included; it consisted of a pitcher of coffee, a glass of orange juice, a hard boiled egg, three rolls, and a platter full of 5 types of meet, three types of cheese, and four large pats of butter. All for one person. When I breakfasted on *merely* a role with butter and jam, five cups of coffee, o.j., and a hard-boiled egg, the woman serving breakfast ran after me. "What is wrong?" she inquired, concerned. "You ate hardly anything for breakfast! Is there something else we can get you? Please, at least take some of the other rolls with you for the day."

The Schloss, seen here at night and early morning, and the Herzog August Bibliothek (housed in the old Armamentarium and in the Bibliotheca Augusta across the street) are the only buildings in town more grandiose than quaint.

behind the alley lay a picturesque (yes i must use the word again) half timbered church and a random stone tower.

My hotel lay opened onto a quiet alleyway. From there, you cross a quaint covered bridge over a waterfall, and then it is only a few hundred meters to the Schloss and the Bibliothek.

ridiculously picturesque wolfenbuettel

Wolfenbuettel is a ridiculously picturesque town. If Luebeck was completely medieval, Wolfenbuettel is a pristine sixteenth-century town of gabled half timbered houses, either gaily painted, or covered in swirling patterns of blue-gray slate.

As usual, I enjoy the cheap finds in Germany, such as this door pull I really like that I got for one euro today in the flea market, or the Jugendstil pitcher that was a mere two euro in a "troedel" store in luebeck. I had spotted the pitcher previously and and arrived prepared to bargain the store owner down to 10 or so. When he suggested the price of 2, it was an offer I could not refuse!

As usual, some of the strangest experiences abroad are encountering representations of one's own country. American food seems particularly popular round about my 'hood, where you can enjoy American-Brunch "an Experience for the whole Family" at Route 66 Diner.

The indoor outdoor experience continues at the Potsdammer Platz train station, which is partially open to the elements, so that I had the strange feeling of being snowed upon while indoors (although it is hard to see the snowflakes in this picture).

Potsdamer Platz architecture is futuristic in general, as seen here in the philharmonic reflected in the marsh next to the Stabi. The marsh is part of the very cool holistic water system of the entire Potsdamer platz development. Where else but Berlin would you find a marsh in the middle of the most modern part of the city?

I am spending a lot of my time at the "Stabi", as we affectionately term the state library of germany. It has two locations, one at Unter den Linden which is freezing and undergoing interminable renovations(making reaching the reading rooms always an adventure through twisting passageways, hidden staircases, and fire exits), and the futuristic building at potsdamer platz, seen here.

I certainly had my fill of beautiful brick architecture in Lubeck. At the bottom you see the city gate of the Holstentor, which now leads to the central bus station, and my bus back to Berlin.

Me staring in awe at the Jackalope. note the webbed feet.

At the corner of Huxstrasse, a street full of bookstores, antiques, art studios, chocolate shops, and florists, I encountered the famed beast, the Jackalope, in a pub window.

Lubeck is full of wonderful little stores and fabulous architecture.
I particularly liked this model shop.

there's not that much keeping these streets upright! I venture in anyway.