Berlin -> Dresden -> Prague

May 23 – May  27, 2012

My friend and former office mate at CU Boulder, Michaela, is now at Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. So, of course, we planned a visit. She is working with Roland Deutsch and he was kind enough to ask me to present my work to the group while I was visiting.

Michaela picked me up in Berlin where we went and had a great lunch. I have spent some time in Berlin in the past and still find it to be one of my favorite cities. This was just a weekend trip, however, and was about catching up with Michaela, and seeing Dresden and Prague. Thus, after lunch, we were on our way to Dresden. 

Dresden was my first true experience of former Eastern Germany. Dresden is an absolutely stunning city. The architecture, its history and its location on the River Elbe make it a must see.  Michaela showed me around the old historical area where much has been restored after the massive destruction of WWII. Many buildings appeared to have been recently cleaned but many of the statues were still sooty. Not sure why though it made for some interesting photos such as the one below.

I love the gold gilded statues everywhere.
They make everything look surreal.

After the tour, we headed to TU so I could meet Michaela's colleagues and give my talk. After the talk we went out to dinner where I thoroughly enjoyed the food and the conversation. Of course, the day would not be complete without visiting a beer garden and that's what we all did to cap off the evening. 

The next day I got to see the other side of the river where Michaela lives. There were many great little finds in the streets. The following row of buildings were awesome. 

Yes, that is an elaborate copper gutter system.

The next day, Michaela and I were off to Prague. The views of the mountains from the train were spectacular. We then arrived in Prague! Wow! What a beautiful city! ( I have to thank Michaela for booking our hotel, the Red Chair Hotel. It was perfectly situated in town. We could walk everywhere and walk we did!!)

Prague is absolutely beautiful and a dream come true for any fan of architecture. If I had taken the time and had the energy, I'm sure I could have learned a lot about architecture, but alas, I just enjoyed the views.

Vlado Milunić's Dancing House

Gothic Gateway to Charles Bridge

Of course, I drank some beer J  

(BTW: Thick large glass but still about a pint.)

This was taken at a little Belgian restaurant where I had the best moules et frites I have ever had. Excellent! 

Overall, a great weekend trip!

I'm back!

I’ve been neglectful. I haven’t posted in months!

I’ve experienced a number of life changes in the last few months – but I’ll save those details for another time and place. This blog was intended to chronicle my experiences here in Portugal and I intend to get back to doing that!

I’ve travelled a fair bit and would love to share my experiences as well as the more mundane experiences of day to day life living and working in Lisbon.  My goal is to catch up to the present with a number of posts over the next few weeks.

So, if you’ll indulge me…the following post will be about my Berlin/Dresden/Prague trip that I took in late May J

Old and New Art

Last weekend I visited the Museu de Arte Antiga and this week I visited the Belem Cultural Center and specifically Berardo’s Modern Art collection.

The Arte Antiga museum is also known as the Museu das Janelas Verdes – (Museum with the Green Windows). It is housed in the Palácio Alvor-Pombal, built for D. Francisco de Távora (1646-1710).

The permanent collection wasn’t anything terribly exciting. I’m not a huge fan of still lifes and I definitely got my fill there. I was also not a fan of the American who I couldn’t get away from that made me cringe every time he opened his mouth – so incredibly loud!!


There was a floor dedicated to Portuguese artists -- I'm afraid they didn't stand out from their French and Dutch counterparts of the time (at least not to my eye). 

However, the temporary exhibition from Spain, “Cuerpos de Dolor” was striking. The exhibition was set in rooms that had all been painted black and where the only light came from spotlights on the sculptures that all depicted human suffering and pain. Many were religious in nature, but not all. Having just looked at paintings of bread, fruit bowls, dead rabbits, and portraits of nobility, it felt very real.  Whereas the rest of the museum seemed to reflect wealth and a polished view of life, these rooms reflected the other side of human existence of the period.

With that said, I must admit that my favorite part of the museum was the garden with a few sculptures and a fantastic outdoor seating area with a view of the Tagus River (Tajo), the 25 de Abril bridge and the Cristo Rei Statue across the river (the two photos below were pulled off the net – the lighting made my photos very washed out).

Yes, it is strikingly similar to the Golden Gate Bridge
except that it is a double decker, the bottom deck is a railroad track.

I enjoyed my pastel de nata e um café pingado (a mini custard tart and an espresso with a few drops of steamed milk) and enjoyed the sunshine with the other visitors. I was mostly surrounded by locals who had come out to lunch on a beautiful sunny Sunday. In this older part of town I definitely spied a few more tourist books coming out of backpacks, but it is definitely not tourist season yet.  

Yesterday (yes, Saturday, not Sunday) I visited the Berardo Modern Art Collection in Belem -- taking the bus service around here for the first time. I believe the bus ride to Belem resulted in my internal organs being rearranged – no size shock absorber can handle these older cobble stone streets – most are asphalt, but not every where especially in the old center.

I was excited to go. I was promised Dali – well, I got one Dali – the Lobster Phone, but it wasn’t one of the finished painted ones (I believe there are six of them in existence) that I had seen in Spain so many years ago, it was just its natural plastic color, as if a trial run. I should look up its history. The surrealist section was good, but I’m partial to the surrealists.


If you find yourself in Lisbon, I would still encourage a visit – the Warhol pieces are worth a look and I will return because there were a few exhibitions that were being changed. Again, the gardens were beautiful and the museum is near the other attractions in the area: Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, Belem’s tower and a variety of other small museums. This port area is where the boats of exploration in the 16^th century embarked on their voyages. Now, it is a place where families seem to come and hang out alongside the tourists coming off the big buses -- there were definitely a lot of tourists in this area. There are also a lot of cultural events in the area: theater, music, etc.

                                     

And, of course, one cannot miss stopping and having one of the Pasteis de Belém – a famous café serving what many say are the best custard tart pastries. They make them all day and are therefore always fresh and warm.  Not a tourist trap – a real treat.

I’ll definitely return to the area to explore more. I was tired, but I was close to an Irish bar I wanted to check out. I found that there are two Irish bars and a British Bar all around the same plaza (the one below) just east of Cais de Sodre.

                                         

I got my Guinness and fish n chips fix, but it was a bit early for music and there were several soccer games that every Irish and British person in the city were watching in there :-)


I decided to return again soon.