Berlin.
For the brief summer months, life here is lived outdoors. The sun sets late and rises early. Pale-skinned Berliners haul couches onto the streets, and eat and drink and chat into the early hours, absorbing as much warmth and light as possible.
The canal is lined with picnickers, the grass covered in the half-clothed forms of relaxed beer drinkers, and the air takes on the pungent smell of grilled meat cooked on portable barbeques.
Life in summer is relaxed, joyous. It’s a crime to spend a second indoors longer than is necessary. The pressures of work fall away. House-bound activities are postponed. For a few months, this city is heaven. And then, the days grow darker, the touch of cold grows stronger, and Berlin hunkers down.
When the fog falls across the rooftops like a damp, grey blanket, it’s time to head indoors. This is where Berlin’s stature as a top European art destination becomes apparent.
It’s January. Mid-winter. And though it has been a mild season this year, so I am told, there is little that wills me to linger long outdoors. My attention turns inwards, to writing, and to art.
Thus begins a month of museums.
Museum #1: Museum für Fotografie
Museum #2: Museum Berggruen
Museum #3: Topographie des Terrors
Museum #4: Bode Museum
Museum #5: Gemäldegalerie
For the brief summer months, life here is lived outdoors. The sun sets late and rises early. Pale-skinned Berliners haul couches onto the streets, and eat and drink and chat into the early hours, absorbing as much warmth and light as possible.
The canal is lined with picnickers, the grass covered in the half-clothed forms of relaxed beer drinkers, and the air takes on the pungent smell of grilled meat cooked on portable barbeques.
Life in summer is relaxed, joyous. It’s a crime to spend a second indoors longer than is necessary. The pressures of work fall away. House-bound activities are postponed. For a few months, this city is heaven. And then, the days grow darker, the touch of cold grows stronger, and Berlin hunkers down.
When the fog falls across the rooftops like a damp, grey blanket, it’s time to head indoors. This is where Berlin’s stature as a top European art destination becomes apparent.
It’s January. Mid-winter. And though it has been a mild season this year, so I am told, there is little that wills me to linger long outdoors. My attention turns inwards, to writing, and to art.
Thus begins a month of museums.
Museum #1: Museum für Fotografie
Museum #2: Museum Berggruen
Museum #3: Topographie des Terrors
Museum #4: Bode Museum
Museum #5: Gemäldegalerie
