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yk's Trip Report: Best and Wurst of Berlin/Dresden in 1 week - Fall 2009
Hello all,
This will be yet another one of my long-winded, detailed trip report. I hope some of you will find this helpful and informative. <b><u>Background</b></u> <b>Who?</b> DH & I, both in our mid-30s. <b>Our Interests?</b> Art, esp paintings (range from Old Masters paintings to contemporary art); architecture; classical music & opera; history <b>Our Travel Style?</b> Budget-minded but not on a strict budget; meaning that we don’t spend $ on taxis or 3* Michelin meals or 5* hotels, but we won’t scrimp on admission fees or opera tickets. <b>When & Why?</b> 8 days during last week of Sept – first week of October This has become our tradition – an annual Fall trip to Europe. It began in the Fall of 2005 when we went to Venice for our honeymoon. In 2006, we went to Vienna. 2007 – Paris/Loire Valley. 2008 – Paris/Loire Valley/Belgium <b>Why Berlin?</b> I was in Berlin once before, in 2003 with my parents. I wasn’t even interested in going then, but my dad really wanted to go because he was last in Berlin in 1961 just before the Wall went up. He wanted to see what it has become. On that 2003 visit, I was intrigued by this city – by its complicated yet fascinating history. We were there for about 4 days and that was not enough, so I have been longing to return. In fact, most of the places we visited in Berlin this time are *new* to me! Neither one of us has been to Dresden. <b>Our Itinerary at a Glance:</b> 4.5 days in Berlin; 1 overnight in Dresden 20 museums/galleries 3 operas 1 GTG <b><u>Pre-trip Bookings</b></u> We bought our plane tickets about 2 months before our trip. AA had an Europe sale in early July. We probably could have gotten a better price if we jumped on it sooner. But we still bought them for a reasonable price of $750pp r/t from Boston; with connection at London Heathrow. After I bought our tickets, I was checking ticket prices weekly for another few weeks and never saw the fares as low as the one we got. From the very beginning, I have decided on renting an apartment for a week in Berlin, and taking a side-trip to Dresden. Fodorite sandy_b has posted a positive review on a Berlin apartment, which we rented. I’d much rather rent places with reviews here from regular posters, than random places recommended on TripAdvisor. After the apartment issue was settled, I bought our DB train tickets online r/t to Dresden. By buying them in advance, we paid €89 instead of €144 . The only downside is these tickets are non-refundable and non-changeable. But since our itinerary is set, we are fine with these conditions. I booked one night at the Dresden Ibis near the train station for a prepaid rate of 59 euros; vs 79 euros at regular rate. Again, since our schedule is set in stone, pre-paying is not an issue for us. I bought tickets to 2 operas in Berlin (Staatsoper Unter den Linden and Komische Oper), and Dresden’s Historic Green Vault tickets. Our Dresden Fodorite Ingo was kind enough to buy opera tickets at Dresden’s SemperOper for us in advance (the cheaper seats are not available online). I made 2 dinner reservations: one at the restaurant at Reichstag Dome; another one in Dresden after the opera. One gallery we visited required advance booking – Sammlung Hoffman. <b><u>Trip Planning Resources</u></b> My resources are: 1) Trip Reports here – esp recent ones by Pegontheroad and danon; and older ones by noe847 and caroline_edinburgh. I also need to thank sandy_b for her help. 2) 2009 <u>Lonely Planet</u> Berlin 3) 2005 <u>Art/Shop/Eat Berlin</u> by Blue Guides – I LOVE the Blue Guides series, but unfortunately they have not issued an updated one for Berlin 4) 2009 <u>Fodors Top 25 Berlin</u> – this is the only Berlin guidebook offered by Fodors. It is too brief for my taste, but has a decent, laminated map which I used a lot 5) Websites for all the attractions we were going to visit. I note down opening days and hours of the museums and galleries so that we can maximize our limited time <b>Preparation</b> <u>Books</u> - Since the trip was planned 2 months ago, I had time to read numerous spy and detective novels set in Berlin, by John LeCarre, David Downing, and the<i> Berlin Noir Trilogy</i> by Philip Kerr. <u>Movies/Documentaries</u> – We watched <i>Dresden</i> the movie; made by a German TV station in 2005. http://www.amazon.com/Dresden-Felici.../dp/B000YKT4BW It is a love story set during the eve of the fire-bombing of Dresden by Allied planes in Feb 1945. I definitely recommend this movie. We also watched a PBS documentary on the <u>Berlin AirLift</u> of 1948-49. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/airlift/ Another excellent movie we saw a few months ago, was the Academy Award-winning <i>The Lives of Others</i>, about the Stasi spying on East Germans. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405094/ On the comic side, I saw <i>One, Two, Three</i>, a 1961 comedy starring James Cagney as the COO of Coca-Cola in West Berlin during the Cold War. His life turned upside down when his boss’s daughter arrived and decided to marry an East German communist in secret. It has lots of laughs making fun of the stereotypes of Russians, East Germans, and Americans. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One,_Two,_Three We also watched DVDs of the 3 operas we were going to see on this trip, in order to brush up on the music and synopsis. <b><u>Housekeeping</b></u> <b>Which sightseeing pass to get?</b> There are several tourist passes available. The Berlin Welcome Card and the Berlin CityTourCard are somewhat similar. Both include free transportation. One offers free museum entrances, the other offers discounted admission. Both are worth considering if you’re in Berlin for just a few days. http://www.visitberlin.de/welcomecard/index.php?lang=en http://www.citytourcard.com/english/...ting-page.html We needed a 7-day transport pass (see below), so for the museum segment, we bought the 3-day museum pass (called "SchauLUST-MuseenBERLIN") for 19 euro each. It is dated for the day you buy it, and it’s valid for 3 consecutive days. It covers over 70 museums, definitely more than you can see in 3 days! We used it to get into 12 different museums, so it comes out to about 1,50 euro per museum! This is a very good deal, even if you only go to 3 museums in 3 days. For example, the Pergamon Museum admission alone is 10 euro. http://www.visitberlin.de/english/be...useumspass.php <b>Getting around</b> Since we were in Berlin for a week, we each bought a 7-day zone A/B pass for 26,20 per person. http://www.bvg.de/index.php/en/17183...cle/77395.html We definitely got our money’s worth as we must have rode on public transit half a dozen times each day. We traveled on S-Bahns, U-Bahns, buses, and trams. The BVG transit map that comes with the pass was a life-saver. It not only has the S/U Bahn routes, but also tram and bus lines superimposed on the map. It lets us use buses and trams a lot more on this trip, so that we can sightsee and rest our feet at the same time. Another super-useful website is the BVG journey planner. http://www.fahrinfo-berlin.de/Fahrin...bin/en?ld=0.1& Every night, I used it to plan out our transit routes for the following day. Overall, I was a bit disappointed with the transit system in Berlin. Perhaps it is still plagued by the S-Bahn fiasco during the summer months, but I’d say that 1/3 of the trips we traveled, took much longer than the BVG journey planner had predicted. I was also surprised that the S-Bahn Ring trains (S41 & S42) run only once every 10 minutes. Or that the U-Bahn runs every 9 minutes at night. Perhaps I was spoiled by Vienna’s transit system (my last trip), which really runs perfectly and efficiently. Berlin’s transit mostly runs on a honor system. You buy your ticket and validate it. You don’t need to swipe it to get on trams, there are no turnstiles at stations. During our week, we came across a spot-check once on a U2 train. The checker was disguised in street clothes. He just boarded our train car, said something in German, showed his ID, and checked everyone’s tickets. I don’t know what the fine is for riding without a valid ticket, but it seems like everybody abides the rule. <b>Weather</b> We had terrible weather for the most part. I was expecting 50s-60sF and some sun. Instead, we had overcast skies and rain showers every day. Temps were more like low 50s; dipping down to 40s at night. I was fairly miserable between the dampness and the cold gusty wind from the Baltic Sea. We saw the sun no more than 5-6 hours total during our entire week there. I'm going to break for now. Next up is our apartment. |
<b>Our Berlin Apartment</b>
http://www.privat-apartment-berlin.de/ The apt building is located just a 5-min walk from the Schonhauser Allee S & U Bahn stations, in the Prenzlauer-Berg neighborhood (NE of Mitte). Location-wise, it is farther away from “action” than I would like, but for the price it charges (and positive review from sandy_b), it is a compromise I was willing to take. See this thread by sandy_b: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...erg-berlin.cfm We rented Apartment 1. It is a spacious studio on the 2nd floor (3rd floor American): 44 steps and no elevator. The bed is 2 twins pushed together, with a fill-in gap foam in between. There is an armchair, and a dining table big enough for 3. There is a small TV with BBC, CNN & lots of German channels. The apt is equipped with wifi. It didn’t work the first 24 hours, but it worked well for the rest of our stay. The windows faces South, so even with overcast skies every day, we still had good light coming through. The kitchenette is small but well-equipped with toaster, coffee maker, electric kettle, mini-fridge, and a stove with 4 burners w/oven. No microwave and no washing machine in this apartment, but it's not a big deal to us. The owner provides ground coffee, coffee filters, hot chocolate mix, sugar. There are 2 pots (1 med, 1 large) and 2 frying pans for cooking. Plenty of dishes and glasswares. The bathroom has a shower stall only. Linens and towels are provided, as well as a hairdryer. The apartment has a balcony, but it was too cold during our stay to enjoy it. The street it is on is very residential and very, very quiet. With windows closed at night, we could not hear any noise. The building has thick walls and floors, which means that we never heard any noise from neighbors next door or above. To me, this is a huge advantage over staying at hotels, where I always get woken up by other guests’ TV noise, conversations, flushing toilets, slamming doors … This is not a luxury apartment, therefore I would hesitate to recommend it to anyone who is picky or doesn’t want to climb 44 steps once or twice a day. The only complaint I have is the owner rents to smokers as well, so the apt has a faint cigarette smell. The owner also has 2 other larger apartments in the same building. This smallest Apt 1 is fine for us, esp given that we were hardly there. I believe the owner lives in the same building, but now he has someone else in the building to manage the apts for him. The manager-lady lives on the 3rd floor and was kind enough to let me use her laptop on the first day to check my emails when the apt wifi wasn’t working. We did not have to pay a deposit to reserve the apartment. Payment is due in cash on arrival. The rate for Apartment 1 is 50 euro/day. But for a one-week stay, we received a 10% discount, so our total rate was 315 euro for 7 nights. There is a shopping arcade at Schonhauser Allee station. Inside includes a large supermarket, a smaller organic food market, independent bakeries, cheese shop, butcher shop, take-out food stalls, plus many shops/boutiques. There is also a post office in the arcade. On our street is an Asian food market. There are multiple restaurants on our street as well as nearby, but we didn’t eat at any of them. From Schonhauser Alle U-Bahn station, it is 4 stops to Alexanderplatz. The Schonhauser S-Bahn station is along the S41/S42 Ring. Photos of apt: http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4405.jpg http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4406.jpg |
Apropos of your comment about the honor system on public transportation, there's a great short movie called "Black Rider" that has this system as its core. A person who rides without a ticket is called a "black rider."
In the movie, a young black guy is harrassed by an old racist woman who makes all kinds of ugly comments to him. He's just stoic--doesn't react. But just before the official comes round to check on everyone's tickets, the young guy snatches the old lady's ticket and eats it. The old lady sputters and protests that he ate her ticket, but of course the official doesn't believe her. It's great! I'm looking forward to reading your impressions and experiences in Berlin, since I visited there a couple of weeks ago. |
Okay, now on to the trip report:
<b>Day 1 - Arrival Day September 27 (Sunday)</b> We left Boston Saturday evening and flew the red-eye to Heathrow (T3); and then Heathrow T5 to Berlin Tegel. For some reason, our AA flight from Boston had to park at a bus gate at T3, so it added at least another 15-20 minutes just to be bused to the terminal building. Our T3->T5 transfer took 75 minutes. Our connection time was 2 hours, so we had just enough time to stop by the BA Terrace Lounge for breakfast before our flight to Berlin. [I was able to reserve exit row seats or bulkhead seats for all 4 of our flights on AA & BA. So even though we were stuck in economy, we really had the best seats in economy with plenty of legroom.] At Tegel, I found the BVG desk (this Tegel map was quite helpful at my jet-lagged state http://www.berlin-airport.de/EN/Reis...lplan/TXL.html ) and bought our 7-day transport pass. I found an ATM as well, but it was a Reise bank ATM, not Deutsche Bank (we have Bank of America account), so I passed on that. I know from our apartment owner that there’s a Deutsche Bank just around the corner from our apt. Since we travel light with carry-on only (19” for me; 21” for DH; a day bag each), we took public transit to our apartment. It was very easy and took no more than 40 minutes. We arrived around 12:20pm. After we dropped off our luggage, we set off to go grocery shopping. To my slight surprise, none of the supermarkets are open on Sundays. There is a convenience store open, but the German version of “convenience store” = 90% beer + 10% snacks (chips/cookies). We did accomplish one thing – found the Deutsche Bank and got cash from the ATM so we could actually pay for our apartment! <u>Note to self</u>: If staying at an apartment in Europe in the future, avoid arriving on a Sunday or major holiday. We got back to the apartment and collapsed on the bed. Neither DH nor I could sleep much on the flights; we were exhausted. Plus, we have tickets for the opera tonight, so we’d better rest well or we'd sleep through the opera. 4 hours later, we woke up, showered, and felt somewhat refreshed. We ate some snacks which we had brought with us, and headed off for Staatsoper Unter den Linden. <b>La Traviata at Staatsoper Unter den Linden</b> http://www.staatsoper-berlin.de/ There are 3 main opera houses in Berlin, with Staatsoper being the most historic, so I really wanted to attend one there on this trip. I chose to see this on our arrival night (crazy, I know) because our other option was the 4-hr long Der Rosenkavalier! I was a bit underwhelmed by the interior of Staatsoper. There is no grand lobby or grand staircase (like the opera houses in Vienna and Budapest), and the place needs a major refurbishing! The auditorium reeks of sewage smell. In fact, it is due to close for renovations after the 09-10 season, so I’m glad I got to catch a performance this time, even with the offensive sewage smell. Exterior of Staatsoper: http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4409.jpg Interior of Staatsoper: http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4411.jpg I bought the 2nd cheapest tickets for 22 euro each. Our seats were okay for that price. The singing was good, even though the cast was from the (IMHO) B-list, but the production was terrible! This premiered in 2003 and the director, Peter Mussbach, has since been kicked out of Staatsoper. I didn’t get it at all, until I read the reviews after we got home. (I've seen Traviata live 5 times before, so I know what it's about.) Basically, the entire set was black and empty, save for the floor which was made to look like a 4-lane autobahn. There is a see-thru projection screen at the front of the stage during the entire opera, so we felt like we were watching the opera through a screen door. The projection showed rain drops falling on a windshield (with an occasion windshield wiper moving across!). Basically, the director wanted us to feel like we are watching this from inside a car. Yeah right, a total WRECK IMO! In addition, Violetta was on stage the entire time. Supposedly (again, I didn’t get it until I read the review), Violetta was already dead when the opera begins, so she remains on the stage as a ghost. She is dressed in white, complete with platinum blond hair and white-powdered skin. Everyone else wears black. There is no party at her home, no country house retreat, no party at Flora’s. Just an empty stage throughout the entire opera, with the exception of a chair here and there. There is also minimal interaction between the singers. Seriously, the opera would have been 100x better if I had just closed my eyes and enjoyed the music alone; rather than trying to watch this car accident through a screen door! Ending this rather unsatisfying evening, was another snafu. We tried to find <u>Konnopke’s Imbiss</u> to get currywursts for dinner, but of course, it’s closed on Sundays! By then, we were too tired to bother with a real dinner, so we bought some snacks and beer from the convenience store: ate junk food back at the apartment, and went to bed. BTW, today is the German election day. We didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, and the streets were fairly quiet. |
"we came across a spot-check once on a U2 train. The checker was disguised in street clothes. He just boarded our train car, said something in German, showed his ID, and checked everyone’s tickets."
it happened to me the first time I took U-Bahn. I had a "short ride" ticket by mistake, the inspector pointed the door to me - sort of " you have to get out at the next stop". I was also surprised at the time laps between the trains at night ( and on Sunday). yk, your reports are always so informative, looking forward to the next installment! Sorry to hear La Traviata was a mess. Often, modernized productions are disappointing. |
sorry.... lapse
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Peg & danon, thanks for your comments. Your Berlin TRs were very helpful to me before my trip.
Peg, any chance you'll finish your TR soon? I'm still waiting for the Austria part! |
yk, great trip report! Outstanding, I'd say! Sorry about TRAVIATA ... as I mentioned to you, we had the premiere of the new production of the same opera last Friday in Dresden. Better than the one in Berlin, judging from your description.
The fine for "Black Riders" is 40 Euro, btw. Awww, you didn't know the supermarkets are closed in Germany on Sundays? Sorry to hear that ... just go to a major railway station - shops/groceries are open there on Sundays. Looking forward to more installments! I. |
"just go to a major railway station - shops/groceries are open there on Sundays."
Good point! my hotel in Berlin was next to a big S-Bahn station with a number of stores open Sundays and late in the day. |
Oh wow, I was just wondering whether your trip was coming up soon, and it's already over? I'm going to start reading now.
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Great start, yk. Your reports are always the unvarnished yk-truth--this is very helpful, especially for those of us who tend to wear rose-colored glasses before, during and after holidays.
Looking forward to more! |
yk...
Enjoying your report. I've been interested in moving Berlin closer to the top of my "go to" list...this report is certainly making me think I should! :-) |
Ingo & danon -
Yes, we noticed that the shops at Berlin Hauptbahnhof were open on holidays. Well, I'll file that info somewhere for next time! 40 euro fine doesn't seem that much to me! I was expecting it to be a few hundred euro. MFifi, Leely & LCI, thanks for your comments. I've been having some internet trouble at home on/off, so I may not be able to post the following installments as quickly as I would like. ---------------------------------- I made a mistake above regarding our tickets for La Traviata @ Staatsoper. Our 2nd cheapest priced tickets were 16 euro each, not 22. Certainly very affordable. Here's a photo of the curtain call of Traviata. You can sort of see the traffic lanes painted on the floor. Violetta (Ailyn Perez) is in white, everyone else is in black. BTW, the guests at Flora's party looked like Goth Zombies. http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4415.jpg |
Ugh, yes, looks like one of *those* modern productions. 16 Euro is definitely cheap, but still 16 bucks too many for a crappy production :(
Hope the internet trouble is solved soon, cannot wait! |
yk, loving the report. Berlin is a great city.
Ingo, nice to 'see' you! |
<b>Day 2 Berlin - Cold War Day
September 28 (Monday)</b> Our first goal in the morning was to go grocery shopping, then went back to the apartment to have breakfast. We were amazed by the low prices of food: 1L of milk is 42 cents; 1.5L of OJ is 65 cents! <b>East Side Gallery</b> Our first stop is East Side Gallery – the longest preserved section of Berlin Wall, along the Spree River. We walked the entire length (1300m) starting from Ostbahnhof. On the other end is Oberbraumbruke. http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4423.jpg http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4426.jpg (<u>Note to self</u>: Rewatch Run Lola Run this week) <b>Stasi Museum</b> http://www.stasimuseum.de/en/enindex.htm Second stop is Stasi Museum. We had the <u>hardest time</u> finding it, even though I had address and directions! The building is hidden inside a courtyard, and there is <u>NO sign</u> (at least not in English) anywhere. We asked several people where the Stasi Museum is, but they all said they don’t know. Finally, we ventured into a courtyard, but all we saw is a pharmacy and doctors’ offices. There is a fast food kiosk there, so I asked the proprietor. She pointed to the building just 20 feet away, “That’s the museum!” No kidding, there is still no sign in English signifying it is the Stasi Museum. I found out about this museum from noe847’s trip report. It is okay – probably a lot more interesting for Germans than for foreigners. All displays are in German, but there is an English booklet which one can borrow with a deposit of 5 euro. The 1st floor is most interesting, as it has display cases of various secret surveillance equipment. Eg, cameras & microphones hidden behind rocks or coat buttons; and pistols hidden inside suitcases. It is almost like watching a James Bond movie. The 2nd floor has remained intact from the Stasi days – still shows the offices of several important officials of the Secret Police, including the office of Erich Mielke. The top floor has room after room of wall panels full of narrative and photos. It was too tedious for me to read the English booklet to match with the panels, so I gave up. <b>Stasi Prison (Gedenkstätte Berlin-Hohenschönhausen)</b> http://en.stiftung-hsh.de/ I was longing for more Stasi-related sights, and I remember the LP guidebook mentioned a Stasi prison, so off we went. I didn’t do any research on this because I didn’t think we would go… well, that turned out to be quite a mistake! The prison is located pretty far out, and by the time we arrived, it was just past 1pm. The prison can only be visited by guided tours and the 1pm tour had already left (next tour was 3pm). Fortunately, they let us join the 1pm tour, which began with a 30-min movie in German with no English subtitles. The prison tour is in German (English tours available just twice a week on Wed & Sat), and is led by former prisoners. There are some English displays, but our guide just kept on talking and talking and talking. At each stop, he talks for at least 15 minutes, which for us non-Germany speakers, is almost like torture. We saw the old prison building (with sad-looking prison cells); then the new prison building with its cells and interrogation rooms. And a prisoner transport van. We could have seen all this in 30 minutes, but with the tour, it went on for over 2 hours. I was bored to tears because I couldn’t understand a word of it. I bet it is fascinating to hear former prisoners to talk about their experiences, so I’d still recommend this place if you go on an <u>English tour</u>. I find it interesting to see the buildings, but I didn’t enjoy the 2 hours I spent standing around without getting much out of the tour. Entrance to Prison complex: http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4439.jpg Old Prison Building (aka "U-Boat) and typical cell: http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4429.jpg http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4430.jpg Prisoner transport van: http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4435.jpg New prison building cell & interrogation room: http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4436.jpg http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4437.jpg <b>Free Walking Tour</b> By now, it’s past 3pm and we had to rush back to Brandenburg Gate to join the free walking tour by Sandeman’s at 4pm. We arrived with just a few minutes to spare, so we grabbed to-go sandwiches from Starbucks as lunch (8 euro). This is a 3.5-hr free walking tour. http://www.newberlintours.com/nbt/co...w/1/2/lang,en/ Many walking tour companies offer this, and we picked Sandeman’s simply because it’s the only company that has a tour this late in the day. I wasn’t expecting much, but it turned out to be most excellent. We had a large group – at least 40 people – but our Irish guide Brian did a fantastic job. He had studied acting, so his voice projected well and we had no trouble hearing him. We saw many of the major sights in Mitte, and he did a very good job briefing us on the history of Berlin. I highly recommend this tour. Tips is welcome at the end of the tour, but not mandatory. If you click on the link above, you can see which sights are covered on this tour. Here are a few shots: Brandenburg Gate http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4441.jpg Finding my way out of the Memorial to Murdered Jews http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4449.jpg Former Luftwaffe HQ http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4452.jpg Section of Berlin Wall near Checkpoint Charlie http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4453.jpg Checkpoint Charlie http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4454.jpg <b>Bauhaus Exhibiton at Martin-Gropius-Bau</b> By now it’s 7:30pm but our day is not yet over. Our final stop for the day is the huge Bauhaus Exhibition at Martin-Gropius-Bau. This is the last week of the exhibition, and hours have been extended to 10pm. I had high expectation but the exhibition didn’t quite turn out to be what I thought. DH & I have been interested in Bauhaus designs ever since we visited Gropius’ house in Lincoln Mass last year, and a Marcel Breuer exhibit at RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) this summer. This Bauhaus exhibition has many paintings but not as much displays in architecture or designs. <b>Finally... dinner</b> We walked over to Potsdamer Platz for a late dinner. It was very quiet, perhaps because it was a Monday night? We ended up at a place called Mommsen-Eck (aka House of 100 beers). http://www.mommsen-eck.de/ DH had a boiled meat plate, and I had some sort of pasta dish. Honestly, I think the food was just so-so, but given that this is the first real hot meal we’ve had in 2 days, we would have enjoyed it even if we were served boiled shoe leather! Dinner was 38 euro. |
YK, welcome back!
You always have the best trip reports. You should be a travel writer. |
<b>Day 3 Onward to Dresden
September 30 (Tuesday)</b> We took the 8:35am train to Dresden, arriving just before 11am. Our hotel, the Ibis, is a short walk from the train station. We were assigned a handicapped room on the 9th floor. The handicapped room is at least 30% larger than regular rooms. The Ibis is fairly basic, but for only 59 euro/night, it suits us just fine. http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4458.jpg http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4459.jpg <b>GTG</b> At 12noon, we arrived at the Tourist Information Center and met up with Fodorite Ingo. As I’ve mentioned before, he was kind enough to get opera tickets for us, as I couldn’t buy those online. We went to lunch - I didn't write down the name or the address, though I'm sure Ingo would be happy to fill in the blanks here. Prices are amazing, with the lunch special (turkey with mushroom cream sauce and side of potatoes) for just €4,90. DH & I really enjoyed talking to Ingo... one of our few chances to interact with locals at length. After lunch, he gave us a personal tour of <b>Frauenkirche</b>. http://www.frauenkirche-dresden.de/o...637b1e38d.html It is such a luxury to have him as our guide, as he told us information not available in guidebooks. He pointed out the blackened stones in the church are original stones found in the rubble. http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4523.jpg And the 2 blackened wings were all that's remained standing after the fire-bombing http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4520.jpg <b>Zwinger</b> After we bade goodbye to Ingo, we saw <b>Procession of Princes</b> enroute to Zwinger. It is an impressive, 102 meters-long stretch of Meissen tiles showing all the kings and emperors throughout the ages. http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4461.jpg http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4462.jpg We had purchased the 48-hr Dresden Card (21 euro each), which includes free admission to many museums (unfortunately, many are closed for renovation right now), and free use of pubic transit. http://www.dresden.de/dtg/en/travel_...-city-card.php [It would have cost us 23 euro if we paid entrance fees separately, and that does not include our use of public transit.] Our first stop in the Zwinger is the <b>Old Masters Picture Gallery (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister)</b>. http://www.skd-dresden.de/en/museen/alte_meister.html Some of the highlights there are the Dresden Canalettos, Raphael’s Sistine Madonna, several Albrecht Durer & Holbein paintings, and 2 Vermeers. There are also quite a bit of Italian Renaissance paintings but I'm not really into those. Let me digress about the Vermeers: the 2 paintings are hung side-by-side. The <i>Girl Reading a Letter</i> is beautiful and exquisite. However, the <i>Procuress</i> is (IMO) crude and ugly. After reading a few books and attending a lecture on Han van Meegeren, I honestly think the <i>Procuress</i> is a van Meegeren masterpiece instead of Vermeer. Rain had stopped when we emerged from the gallery, so we walked around the <b>Baroque courtyard</b> of Zwinger. http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4478.jpg http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4477.jpg <b>Porcelain collection (Porzellansammlung)</b>. http://www.skd-dresden.de/en/museen/...nsammlung.html Unfortunately, half of the collection (the upstairs, Meissen portion) is closed; so only the ground floor Chinese KangXi collection is open. The space is quite small, but I really enjoyed the display. http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4484.jpg Clock and Meissen bells adorn the Porcelain collection http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4480.jpg We were fairly tired, so we went back to Ibis for a nap, then a change of clothes for opera tonight. <b>Il Trovatore at SemperOper</b> http://www.semperoper.de/de/oper/willkommen.html The Dresden opera house was rebuilt in 1985. It is beautiful, definitely more so than Staatsoper. I was surprised to see the "Royal Box" section. I thought that was something the Communists didn't approve of? http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4485.jpg http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4486.jpg http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4489.jpg Opera this evening is Il Trovatore. This is our favorite opera production among the 3 we saw on this trip. It premiered in 2008, with modern/minimalist design, but the color scheme is quite stunning. The choreography is great and so is the orchestra and the singing, esp the mezzo and the baritone. We ate dinner afterwards at <b>Alte Meister</b> right next door to the opera, recommended by Ingo. http://www.altemeister.net/de/ I made a reservation by email a week before, thinking that it is probably a popular place frequented by the opera crowd. Well, that was absolutely NOT needed! We were the only diners on this Tuesday evening. In any case, this was an excellent suggestion by Ingo, as we love the décor, ambiance, and the food. The prices are reasonable too. Each month, it offers a 3-course dinner for 29 euro (38 euro with wine). We ordered a la carte because we didn’t feel like eating 3 courses this late. DH had a sweet potato soup and lamb loin chops. I had a cold almond-basil soup and a buffalo mozzarella/bean salad. Total was 53 euro. I had hoped we could walk along the river bank after dinner, but it was cold, windy and raining, so we just hopped on the next tram back to the hotel. |
What flygirl said. Amazing how many things you packed into ONE day :-) Honestly, if I had known about your interest for the Stasi I had given you a tour of their building (jail and interrogation rooms) in Dresden. Far more intersting, though, is the infamous prison in Bautzen - I visited with American friends two years ago. Very moving.
Thanks for report + pictures! |
Oh, and hi to Gomiki. Good to 'see' you too!
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gomiki & flygirl, you are too kind. flygirl, I can't wait to see your amazing photos (as usual) when you return from your trip!
Ingo, there's always a *next* visit to Dresden! I'm pretty confident you're still be there in 10, 20, or 30 years. ;) |
It was my pleasure to meet you both! Enjoyed our mini GTG very much.
As for the Vermeer: Do you mix up something? I am certainly no expert on Vermeer. However, a quick search on google came up with this article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/a...e-genuine.html The painting in Dresden has been restored not long ago. Provenance is clearly documented. See this link: http://www.essentialvermeer.com/cata...procuress.html Glad you liked IL TROVATORE. LOL, yes, the communists didn't approve of Royals ... and if you have a closer look at the crown on top of the Royal Box you'll see that it is not a real crown, more sort of a model that you'd use for carnival. Of course, the opera house was restored after original plans so the communists had no chance to get away w/o Royal Box. I also hope to still be around in 30 years ;-) |
Hi Ingo, yes, I saw that article. I just noted such a huge contrast in style between the 2 Vermeers, that they seem impossible to be done by the same person, esp knowing Vermeer's paintings are usually very delicate and exquisite. The Procuress is none of those.
I hope it won't take us 30 years before we make our way back to Dresden! I still need to visit Prague, and Leipzig, and Spreewald . . . |
<b>Day 4 More of Dresden
September 30 (Wednesday)</b> We woke up to cloudy skies, but at least the rain had stopped. I had paid for breakfast at the hotel (10 euro each). It was a decent breakfast buffet spread, with cold cuts, cheeses, yogurt, cereal, fruits, breads… [You may think it's ridiculous for such "budget-conscious" travelers like us to waste 20 euro on hotel breakfast. Yes, I know it's expensive and we could have gotten breakfast elsewhere for less than half. However, it's one of the "luxuries" that my husband prefers. So, an extra 10 euro buys me a happy husband: a great deal IMO!] <b>A Walk in Dresden Neustadt</b> We checked out and left our small overnight bag at the luggage room. Ingo had suggested checking out the Neustadt across the river. As it was still too early for museums, we followed (loosely) his recommended route. We took the tram across the river and got off at Albertplatz. We walked down Konigstrasse, passing Dreikonigskirche. We didn't go in the church because it looked closed (honestly, we didn't check for sure). Further down the street, we reached the Japanese Palace (now an exhibition space, I think). Finally we made our way to Augustus’ golden statue. By now, the sun was out and the statue was so shiny I was unable look straight at it! One of the older trams (most we rode are modern ones) http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4492.jpg Augustus the Strong statue http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4493.jpg We got nice views of the Old Town as we crossed the river via Augustus Bridge. http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4496.jpg http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4500.jpg At the end of the bridge is Hofkirche http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4502.jpg <b>New Green Vault (Neues Grünes Gewölbe)</b> http://www.skd-dresden.de/en/museen/..._gewoelbe.html It's now just past 10am; we headed for New Green Vault within the Residenzschloss complex. It shares the same entrance as the Historic Green Vault. At 10:15am on this day, they were selling 12:30p and beyond timed tickets for Historic Green Vault. I was amazed by how much “stuff” these emperors/electors collected. None of it serves any real purpose except that they look pretty and are impressive. We spent about 75 minutes there, then climbed up the <b>Hausmannsturm tower</b>. It offers a great view of the city and the river; and the best part is that we were the only people up there! View of Zwinger http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4504.jpg View of Opera House, Theatreplazt, and Elbe River http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4505.jpg View of interior courtyard of Residenzschloss, the facades are still being restored http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4507.jpg We still had 45 minutes to spare before our 12:30pm Historic Green Vault entry, so we walked along <b>Bruhlsche Terrace</b> to the spot where Canaletto had painted his famous painting of Dresden. http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4519.jpg We walked back to Frauenkirch for a few photo shots given that the sun is out, then hurried back to the entrance for Historic Green Vault. Historic Green Vault (Historisches Grünes Gewölbe) http://www.skd-dresden.de/en/museen/..._gewoelbe.html At 12:30pm, they are still selling same day entry tickets for the HGV, but only the last timed entry is available. We forgot to put all our stuff in the lockers, so we were sent back by the guard to the locker room. No bags or coats are allowed inside. Of the 8 rooms in the HGV, 5 are original and 3 are rebuilt after being destroyed by the fire-bombing of 1945. Many of the objects on display are similar to those we saw in the New Green Vault, except they are placed on the mirrored walls here instead of in display cases. I must say, I find the first room – the Amber room – the most impressive. The second most impressive is the jewels room. Not only the diamonds and gemstones are dazzling, so is the room and décor. We didn’t listen to every commentary in each room, but still spent about 75 minutes there. It’s now time to catch our train back to Berlin. We picked up our bag from Ibis and went back to the train station. We had some extra time, so we grabbed a quick lunch from Marche inside the station. 2 sandwiches and 1 drink cost €9. <B>Back in Berlin</b> Our 3:04pm train got us back to Berlin around 5:30pm. On our way back to the apartment, we stopped at the Asian market on our street to get some veggies and noodles which we would cook later tonight. <b>Rigoletto at Komische Oper</b> http://www.komische-oper-berlin.de/ Auditorium http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...9/IMG_4525.jpg I purchased 22 euro seats for this, and got fairly good seats towards the back of the orchestra stalls. I honestly did not know what to expect. As you know, Rigoletto is a tragic story (I cried the first time I saw it), so how could a “comic” opera house stage this? Their explanation was, “</i>A comic opera that horribly goes wrong…</i>” I think the Komische Oper tends to stage operas in a modern & alternative way. This production opened just 10 days earlier, and from reading reviews, the director got booed at the premiere. The theme of this production is a circus/magic show. The Duke is the magician and Rigoletto is the clown. There is clever use of trap doors, magic boxes on stage. While I don’t necessarily love his idea, I thought it worked relatively well with the storyline, at least better than the “Car Wreck Traviata”. There were a number of things I didn't like, esp the way the ending was stage. DH hated this. He's never seen Rigoletto live before, and he said he much preferred seeing it in a more "traditional" opera production. The cast was not bad. A few things that stood out at Komische Oper: 1) The audience is younger and more “alternative” looking. Dress code is relaxed and almost anything goes. 2) All operas performed here are sung in German (However, the famous <i>La Donna e Mobile</i> was sung in Italian.) 3) The opera house has just completely refurbished their seats, so starting this season, each seat has its own individual seat back surtitles screen; and English translation is available (Both Staatsoper and SemperOper have the projected German surtitles at the top of the stage.) 4) The opera was performed from beginning to end with NO intermission. We cooked dinner in the apartment after we got back (cost: 3 euro). |
While I'm not an expert on Vermeer, didn't he go through a historical period? I think artists go through different periods. Ingres comes to mind. I didn't realize that he painted a lot of "academic" paintings until I went to the Louvre retrospective a few years ago.
In fact, many artists have such variations in styles. Another example -- think of early Jackson Pollock, when he painted in a pseudo-surrealist style. (Did the same apply to Rothko?) Before he achieved immortality with the drip paintings, he was regarded as a merely competent artist. This website gives the provenance of the Procuress: http://www.essentialvermeer.com/cata...procuress.html Unless the provenance is fake also, if this isn't a Vermeer, it can't be a van Meegeren. |
ttt to read later.
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Great report as always, yk! Looking forward to the rest.
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I just saw your post on Procuress, Ingo.
Tried to pull up the Telegraph article, but the link is down right now. I found the introductory paragraph in a Google cache. Interesting that people did think it was a van Meegeren. :) I'll read the rest later. The provenance is interesting. If people could trace the provenance back to 1700s in the first place, how could they have thought that it was a van Meegeren forgery? Unless they had doubts about the documented provenance also. I'll have to read the Telegraph article when the link is back up. |
Ok, the Telegraph link is back up.
But the painting referred to by the Telegraph is at Courtauld. Are there two versions? If you compare the Telegraph photo with the photo in essentialvermeer, you can see that even after allowing for color variations in reproductions, the two paintings don't seem to be same. There must be an interesting story here.... |
Welcome back yk! Enjoying your trip report as usual and looking forward to reading more. The industrial goth Traviata made me laugh!
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More on the Procuress. There's indeed an interesting story here, but I'm not sure if I really get it.
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/artic...%20piece/19356 It sounds like Vermeer actually had a Procuress hanging in his home, and the Courtauld version could be the one that actually hung there, but then, maybe not. In any case, it seems like there's no dispute about the authorship of the one in Dresden. |
Well, there's a difference between The Procuress hanging in Dresden with Vermeer's name on it and The Procuress in The Art Newspaper article above. The one that is the subject of the article is at the Courtauld and is one that was (possibly) owned by Vermeer's mother in law and was also an object Vermeer painted into two of his own works in the background. However, it's my understanding that The Procuress by Baburen is at the MFA in Boston...unless my eyes deceive me!
"Provenance/Ownership History: Please note: The history of ownership is not definitive or comprehensive, as it is under constant review and revision by MFA curators and researchers. 1641, Maria Thins (b. ca. 1593 - d. 1680), Delft [see note 1]; by inheritance to her daughter, Catharina Bolnes (b. 1631 - d. 1688) and her husband, Johannes Vermeer (b. 1632 - d. 1675), Delft [see note 2]; possibly by inheritance to their son, Johannes Johannesz. Vermeer (b. ca. 1663 - d. 1713), Delft [see note 3]. Possibly Sir Hans Sloane (b. 1660 - d. 1753), London [see note 4]; possibly by descent within the Sloane family to Lt. Col. Ronald Francis Assheton Sloane-Stanley (b. 1867 - d. 1949), Cowes, Isle of Wight; February 25, 1949, Sloane-Stanley sale, Christie's, London, lot 52 [see note 5], to Colnaghi on behalf of Roderic Thesiger (dealer), Beaconsfield, England; 1950, sold by Thesiger to the MFA for $1960. (Accession Date: June 8, 1950)" There has been a lot of discussion about Vermeer's Procuress (in Dresden) and whether it is actually his or a forgery. Unfortunately because Vermeer was either not so prolific or so many of his paintings were lost (only 36 known today) there isn't a wealth of work to base studies of his work on to make affirmative judgments. Personally I felt that neither of the works in the National Gallery in London were his...they didn't have the "feel" that the other Vermeers that I've seen do. yk, did you get to the Vermeers in Berlin? |
Hi amyb, thanks for your information. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Even though it's a Vermeer doesn't mean that you or I have to like it. I thought you felt the "Wynn Vermeer" wasn't by him either?
It'll be fun if they could put get all 3 Procuress to be shown side-by-side in an exhibition! Apres_Londee, you would have LOVED that Goth Traviata production! :D Oh, and you would have LOVED Berlin too, with graffiti covering every inch of the city! (And NO, I didn't take any pictures of graffiti for you.) Thanks for everyone else's comments. ann, I'm still waiting for you to finish your two (?) trip reports. No pressure, really. ;) My home internet connection problem seems to have resolved. I'll try to post a few more installments later today. |
Great report. Berlin is one of my favorite cities in Europe. Next time we will have to do more of the Cold War stuff, if I can get away with it. My wife is a former Party member (CPSU) so sometimes she gets bored with my fascination of her former life.
Rick |
<b>Impression of Dresden</b>
I hope Dresden-lovers won't get offended by what I write next, and please do not take it as a criticism of Dresden. It's simply my point of view. Perhaps I had a very high expectation before the trip, I must admit I was slightly disappointed by it. The immediate area of the Residenzschloss, Zwinger, opera house, and Augustus Bridge is very nice, but as soon as you step away from it, the rest of the “old town” is either 1) construction zone; or 2) shopping mall Between our Ibis Hotel and Residenzschloss (~ 1km) is a continuous shopping street flanked by malls on both sides. I know that pretty much all of Dresden was destroyed in WWII but I somehow assumed more of old town was rebuilt back to its original baroque architecture. Another thing that threw me off was how black the old buildings are. Initially I thought that was soot and the buildings needed a good wash. Then I learned from Ingo that it is neither dirt nor soot, but simply the way the building material (sandstone) behaves. Brand new sandstone is yellow, but as it gets exposed to air, it gradually turns gray and eventually black over the course of several decades. The grey, rainy weather didn't help either. I tend to love places when it was sunny during my visit. We also encountered a couple of young people in Dresden who don't speak English. This came as a surprise, becuase 1) they are young people; and 2) they work in tourism (that's how we came across them). In Berlin, <i>everyone</i> speaks English. I still enjoyed our stay in Dresden, as it provided a nice retreat/contrast to Berlin. I probably would have liked it more if we had more time in Dresden so that we can actually get to "know" it. Seeing the treasures of the Green Vaults is definitely a memorable experience. I cannot remember the last time I was wow'ed by so many <i>objets d'art</i> for hours on end. And I know I will revisit Dresden again, hopefully when the rest of the museums are open; and perhaps spend time enjoying the scenic river valley and surrounding areas. |
I think that's mostly directed at me, right? There aren't so many Dresden lovers here, ya know ;-)
Nope, I am not offended. The facts you stated are true and the rest is, of course, subjective. Ok, malls to both sides isn't totally true; there are actually two shopping malls in the city centre, one of them opened a few weeks ago. Maybe you refer to the department stores like Karstadt or Wöhrl or so. The ongoing construction is indeed annoying, but then again, without that we will never fully reconstruct/build the old town, right? You were really unfortunate regarding the weather. Geez. A few days later temps were up in the high 70s and it was sunny. And from noon to early afternoon the next day doesn't leave a lot of time to explore and get know the real city. That's what I tell everyone. The outskirts and old residential areas are the nicest areas IMO. I. |
Hi yk!
Thanks for your great trip report. I really appreciate how organized you are with all the information! I actually like Dresden -- yes many of the old buildings are black and look "dirty" but it didn't affect the atmosphere of this historic city. It did pour rain for most of the day that I was there, though. That was FUN! |
'Perhaps I had a very high expectation before the trip, I must admit I was slightly disappointed by it. The immediate area of the Residenzschloss, Zwinger, opera house, and Augustus Bridge is very nice, but as soon as you step away from it, the rest of the “old town” is either
1) construction zone; or 2) shopping mall " yk, interesting to hear your thoughts on Dresden. I was right in the "old town" (for for almost 48 hours) and the weather was splendid. My experience was rather enjoyable. I understand what Ingo is saying about staying longer and seeing more.... few travelers have that luxury. |
Ingo, see, it's not all about YOU ;). I've read many positive posts here on Fodors about Dresden!
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A bit off-topic, but related to Dresden:
I attended a Boston Symphony Orchestra concert today. One of the pieces is <i>The Isle of the Dead</i> by Rachmaninoff. I didn't realize Rachmaninoff had lived in Dresden from 1906-1909; and he wrote that piece while in Dresden. According to the program notes, he and his family lived in a "charming <i>Garten-Villa</i> on Sidionienstrasse." I wonder if it is still standing? |
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