It's All About the Food... And the Art ... And the Love!

First, a brief public service announcement from Berliner Mitte: Today, April 23, Kim & Daniella are celebrating 18 happy and fun years together! Wow, seems like only yesterday ..... And I know I'm a member of the Lucky Girls Club every day! No, these are not our new wheels - but we did walk by a Bugati dealership yesterday, and I had to have a picture of this one!

Daniella wrote about it so colorfully in her blog. Yesterday was a day of food and art for us. We set out in the morning intending to visit the Reichstag, only to arrive there and find a line so long that they predicted 1 1/2 hours wait (in a very cold wind), so we pushed on, visiting a string of not-very-thrilling galleries. Eventually we came to Galleries Lafayette, a huge downtown department store with a basement floor devoted to gourmet food, and the store dominated by a 5-story tall glass teardrop dome at it's center, all lit by an ongoing light show.Wow! It reminded us so much of the store we loved in Korea, but this one had a European (read French) flavor. The food and drink was gorgeously displayed. There were oyster and champagne bars, pastries, artisanal cheeses from all over Europe, meats, sausages, breads, pastries, and so much more!What a coincidence - it was lunchtime! We shared a scrumptious slice of spinach and cheese quiche, and a salad, then had to sample a couple of pastries as well, one of those moments when making a choice is exquisitely painful! We also saw this beautiful dome in another nearby shopping area, all this on Friedrichstrasse, a big elegant street here.Special for Phil, these are gallon jugs of Nutella, for hard-core users like some folks we know:Later we waddled along to the U-Bahn and went over to the fabulous Berlinische Gallerie, a museum that shows art made in Berlin since 1900. Both the artwork and building were excellent and exciting. The space is huge, modern, and one end is dominated by an enormous wall-sized painting that glows from everywhere in the museum. We saw so many great pieces of art, both inside and out. Felt inspired and uplifted!
We're getting pretty good at navigating the public transportation here. When we arrived we bought a "welcome card" that covers all forms of public transport, plus gives discounts on all attractions - a terrific savings of both money and time. We're using the subway and buses all day, but have not figured out the tram system yet. The city is SO vast, and we are walking miles each day, even between train stops.

This deli was not in the gourmet area, but stilll:
Last night we went for great pizza with a young student here, Sophie, whose family lives in California. She is adorable, and helped us figure out what is worth visiting and what we can miss, in the days we have left here. Time is flying, and we are indeed having fun!


-- Post From My iPad