Getting around

Tuesday, May 5, 2009
See the town

Today it's raining. I planned to take a boat trip around the city this morning; I figure that the rain is good news and bad news. In fact, when I got to the pier, there were only a half dozen people waiting for the tour. (The employees were discussing whether they should do the tour with so few people or not; they decided to proceed, to my relief.) That's the good news. The bad news is that to sit on the open deck is a little uncomfortable.

The tour was in German, and I understood most of it. There was nothing spectacular about the tour, but it was a point of view that I would not have gotten otherwise. Of course, the tour was one of the discounts from the Welcome Card.

One of the things we passed on the boat was a market in one of the Turkish neighborhoods. The tour leader advised me that it's a very good market, open on Tuesdays and Fridays. I'll try to come back on Friday. Just a few meters farther on the other side of the canal was the Fraenkelufer Synagogue.

While I was on the boat I received a tech support call from Yoyi. The car alarm had sounded for no apparent reason. I walked her through disconnecting the battery. When we call our computer company, we end up talking to someone in India or the Philippines. But who ever heard of calling Germany for support?

After the boat ride, I went to the Nikolaiviertel to visit the Ephraim Palais museum. I thought the exhibits were something else, but instead, I saw something on the contributions of Polish immigrants to Berlin, particularly in the 18th and 19th Centuries. I found out only later, in the Jewish Museum, that Ephraim was a prominent Jewish banker and businessman in Berlin 250 years ago, who, among other things, financed Friedrich II's wars and minted his money.

Then, to make best use of my card, I went to the Dali exhibition at Potsdamer Platz. The exhibit includes a sizable collection of Dali material, but not nearly as large or as complete as the museum in Sarasota. One nice feature was that it includes numerous full sets of work, such as all the illustrations for a particular book, or an entire series. I'm not sure I'll ever understand Dali.

It's hard work going to museums.