THE CITY OF BERLIN

Paul, Sherry, Eric, Rebecca, Max and Sophie

This was our first time in Berlin, our second time in Germany (Heidelberg on a previous trip). We both remember people in our parent's generation saying that they would never go to Germany, and, in fact, they would never consider buying a Volkswagon because of the Holocaust. We both had some of those feelings in the past (we did, however, own and love a 1965 VW bus). 

Everyone we know who has been in Berlin told us what a great city it is; they were correct. We truly enjoyed being there - and yet.

Berlin has a population of 3.5 million people. It is a vibrant, diverse, well-organized (of course) city with many places of interest for visitors. We used the mass transit system every day, and found it easy to get around. People we met were very friendly and helpful. We actually wished we had planned to stay a few more days. 

We visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and a section of the Berlin Wall that has interpretive information. Both of these raised in my thoughts the basic human struggle between good and evil, as lived by Germans in the last century; my lifetime. Germany has very intentionally owned their role in the horrors of World War II, and, to their credit, is doing everything possible to educate young people about the past, without pulling punches (i.e. a memorial to the "Murdered Jews"). I couldn't help thinking about how my own country handles our racist history - many states prohibiting the teaching of "critical race theory" or anything that might make young white kids feel uncomfortable. It is ironic that the Nazi regime modeled many of their anti-Jewish laws on the racist laws of the United States at the time, and now the United States could learn from Germany how to deal with systemic racism and bigotry. 

We visited Checkpoint Charlie, and laughed about the McDonalds and KFC next to it (see photo link, below). We visited the interesting museum about the history of Jews in Berlin at the New Synagogue (new in the late 1800s). A modern art museum has wonderful, and some puzzling, exhibits. We appreciated the architecture of old and new buildings. We wondered about the blue and pink above-ground pipes in many neighborhoods. 

And we ate. And we drank. In the photo album (see link, below) there are numerous photos of us with beer and wine. We certainly had to sample German beer and wine, right? And German beer gardens. We ate everything from classic German food to the foods of immigrant populations. In fact, our favorite was a Turkish grill, where we ate two times. 

And so, Berlin is now on our list of great cities to visit. We barely scratched the surface of what Berlin has to offer. 

And here is the link to the photo album. Note: some of the photos have accompanying text, so click on a photo and then scroll down a bit to see descriptions.

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posted by paul

LIVING IN BOLOGNA, ITALY (COVID AND BEYOND)

 What defines Bologna, Italy? The food? The art? The porticos? The architecture? All of the above. We had a grand plan for our 17 days in Bologna; however, plans don't always work out, and ours didn't.

The plan was to use Bologna as a home base and do some day trips and overnight trips to other places. We thought we would do an overnight in Milan, maybe one in Venice - we love Venice - perhaps Ravenna and get some Adriatic Sea beach time. But alas, COVID had other ideas. 

We both got it. We both did our 5-10 day isolation routine (based on the USA CDC guidelines because, try as I did, I never found the Italian guidelines), and we both survived. Everything has two sides, so the down side was that we got COVID and had to stay in the apartment for 5 days each, but we didn't have it at the same time, so the 5 days was actually about 8 days, and then another 5 days each masked no matter where we went (so, for example, no eating at restaurants, even outside). 

So we had 2-3 days at the beginning of our time in Bologna when we were not COVIDy, and then another few days at the end of our time in Bologna. No overnight trips. And, oh yes, did I mention that I had two doctor appointments while we were there? I had arranged ahead of time an intake appointment with an ophthalmologist, and then an appointment for him to give me my eyeball injections, the ones I need every 8 weeks to keep my macular degeneration controlled. So another two days interrupted. Life.

But...we actually did a lot in Bologna, and really enjoyed our free time there. We had some good and also great meals, including the classic Bologna fare of different prosciuttos, tortellini, tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce, pizza and more. We enjoyed art in many places, including the murals painted on the metal roll-up doors of businesses on our street (via del Pratello) and art museums and sculptures in the piazzas. We walked many porticos and appreciated their functionality as well as their beauty. The old city is filled with wonderful buildings, as well as the iconic towers and churches. And I really enjoy just wandering through neighborhoods. 

After our first week there we were joined by granddaughter Sophie, who finished her semester in Granada, Spain, and our family friend Diane. They both had COVID recently, and we followed strict protocols in the apartment (they had their own bedroom and bathroom). Those two did many things together in and around Bologna. 

One night Sophie, Diane and I went to the Camera Jazz & Music Club for a special event. The widow of jazz great Dexter Gordon, Maxine Gordon, was there to talk about her recently published book, "Sophisticated Giant." Dex had been working on his autobiography when he died, and Maxine promised him that she would finish it. A jazz quartet played a couple of sets of Dexter Gordon tunes. It was a marvelous evening, and we ended up spending time with Maxine after the show. 

After our isolation period was over, we four took a day trip to Ravenna, about a 1.25 hour train ride from Bologna. Ravenna has numerous Byzantine-era churches that have incredible tile mosaics inside, not to mention fascinating architecture. We enjoyed walking around the city; it seems very relaxed, not too crowded, with lots of cafes and shops. We went through an exhibit of works by a present-day mosaic artist that was incredible; my question, repeated many times was: "How does he do that?" 

Art is everywhere, and not just in museums. Our street in Bologna had fantastic paintings on the metal roll-up doors of the shops. A morning walk was enhanced by all the art on the closed doors. (There is a lot of graffiti in European cities, but the taggers don't paint on art work.) Piazzas have sculptures, buildings have sculptures and other artistic touches, and the architecture is art. Our eyes and brains were filled to the brim with art. 

And we ate. We found restaurants that had many gluten free choices for Sherry, including one, La Capriata, that makes their own pastas and tortellinis, including gluten free. Casa Monica is another restaurant where we had a great meal in a wonderful space, served by truly nice people. And we found many small eateries that served wonderful food. In other words, so much fun, so much food, so many drinks.

And where are the photos, you ask? 

Bologna photo album: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzR8PF

And things we ate - Food album:  https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzSBCL

And art we saw - Art in Bologna and Ravenna album:   https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjzSBC5

And then we were off to Berlin. That will be a future post. 

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posted by paul

ONE THING EUROPE HAS THAT WE DON'T IN THE USA

 Something in Europe has always struck me as a big difference from my home country; the neighborhood public plazas. This trip has strongly reminded me of that difference from our first stop in Los Angeles, California. 

One day we went to the original Farmer's Market, a huge indoor market with dozens of vendor stalls for foods, and lots of restaurant stalls. Next to the old market there is now a new development named The Grove - it was formerly an orchard.* It's a very clean, modern and beautiful place - a small neighborhood, really - with a central water feature and outdoor seating for restaurants, and a lot of shops. Looks great. Feels safe and comfortable. Reminds me so much of a theme park (Disneyland, &c). Because it is.

Look closely at the photo and you'll see that it's all major brand and upscale shops and restaurants, and a lot of huge advertising video screens. One building really blew my mind - photo below. Is that the centuries old City Hall of a European city? No. It's a Nike store! Swoosh!

OK, I get it, in America real estate is a valuable commodity, and the owners need to make a large profit from the land. So if you want public open space, the government can buy it for park land, at inflated market rate; otherwise, it has to be a shopping center or amusement park where corporations can make big profits from the people using the space. 

People we saw at The Grove were having a good time. There were families with kids who maybe were just there to enjoy the impeccably-kept landscaping - it was very beautiful - and maybe get an ice cream. Others were there to shop, or have a meal, or both. But to be honest, the place gave me the creeps because it embodied, to me, a basic flaw in society: the commercialization and commodification of everything. Even open space. The Commons.

European cities are different, and I'm being careful here not to romanticize Europe. Every city we've visited has plazas in every neighborhood; some large, some tiny. Below are photos of two different plazas in the Casco Viejo neighborhood (the old section) of Bilbao, Spain. These are similar to plazas everywhere. 

Those are apartments above the ground floor; people live there. There is every variety of shop, bar, restaurant, and office in the ground-level spaces. There are tables, chairs umbrellas for the restaurants and bars. Although some of these are popular and often crowded tourist attractions, or maybe locally popular, others are simply neighborhood public spaces. As we sat and enjoyed caffé, a drink, pintxos or a full meal, we watched families stroll through, people stop and chat, a group of kids start a pick-up soccer game, neighbors sit together for a drink, a smoke, a discussion or argument. No giant advertisement video screens. No major brand, high-end stores. No (or few) chain stores. Local businesses. 

By the way, in the nighttime photo, the group at the table in the center consists of: our grandson Jake and his partner Amanda visiting from L.A.; grandson Max and his partner Maddy who live in Bilbao, and Grandma Sherry. We had such good times together with our kids!

Perhaps I am romanticizing things, but honestly, I get the feeling that having these open spaces, these gathering spaces, in every neighborhood, is part of why I always feel people here are more relaxed, more social, more easy-going. It is an urban style very different from ours.

In Portland, as in most American cities, there is an effort by local government to have park spaces within a certain distance from every home. And this is terrific; I love our parks. And I don't see this in the older parts of European cities. But people don't gather in parks the way they do in a European plaza; they mostly gather for a picnic, to walk or exercise their dogs, or for a sport. The shops and restaurants are on the commercial streets, and everything is linear, with motorized traffic roaring past. 

In 1984 the City of Portland built a one square block public square, Pioneer Courthouse Square, in the center of downtown. The City had owned the property since 1856; in 1884 they allowed a huge hotel to be built on it. The hotel was torn down in 1951 and a two-story parking lot was built. In 1969 a large parking structure was proposed for the site, but the Planning Commission rejected the proposal and called for a public square. And so "Portland's Living Room," as it is known, was built. It's a nice space, all red brick, a large flat area with sitting stairs on two sides, great for events. But it's not like a neighborhood European plaza, and isn't meant to be. The only place originally on the property to get food or drink is a Starbucks; now there are a few food carts. There are other places nearby. It is really a large central plaza where events can happen and people can gather, and that is really terrific.

Most cities in the United States will not have the kind of neighborhood plazas I'm writing about, and maybe they wouldn't work in our society. I don't know. What I do know is that I look forward to discovering and using these spaces every time I travel in Europe. Would it be different if I lived here? Maybe. But to me these are among the special places. 

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posted by paul

* Note: I am always amused by the ironic names developers often give to their developments. Let's cut down an old orchard and call the new development "The Grove." A favorite is an upscale housing development near Portland where they cut down most of the Oregon ash trees and named the place "Ash Tree Downs." LOL! Who says developers have no sense of humor?

OH-HIS-CRON-OH-MINE

 

I thought I'd escaped. In the week that we've been in Bologna we were able to get out and about the first three days, until Paul tested positive. I felt yuck, so staying home didn't matter. But now it's my turn. The two lines appeared within seconds, so hunkering in again!

Ahhh well, I know this is fairly mild; Paul is feeling much better, and O-bla-di, O-bla-da, Life goes on boy, lalalala, Life goes on. (Beatles) We're grateful for the vaccine, and know we still have lots of good vacationing ahead.

O-MY-CRON!

 

That's mine on the left, Sherry's on the right. Two lines means positive, unless of course it's a false positive, in which case it could be a negative. But my throat is raspy, and I feel like I have a mild cold, or something.  

And why wouldn't we get COVID? We'e talked about how lucky we've been so far, in airports and airplanes where not everyone is masked, walking the Bologna neighborhoods without a mask, and generally being out and about in the world. We mask-up to go into a store or other enclosed space, like museums, but still. 

So I'll isolate for 5 days and hopefully be better. And we'll keep fingers crossed that Sherry doesn't get it. It truly seems to be a crap shoot, this COVID thing. 

Stay well.

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posted by paul

 

BILBAO/BILBO - A GREAT CITY NO MATTER THE LANGUAGE

 

Bilbao/Bilbo (Spanish/Basque) sits astride the Nervión River (also known as the Bilbao Estuary in Bilbao) a short distance from the sea. This was our second time in Bilbao, and we enjoyed it as much or more than the first. 

The photo above is us at the Funicular Park, which we travelled to on the funicular (funny how that works) originally built in 1915. The view of the city and surroundings is spectacular. The famous Guggenheim Museum is a prominent feature, but Bilbao is so much more than that. 

It helped that grandson Max and his wonderful womanfriend Maddy live and work in Bilbao, and are fluent Spanish speakers. When they were not working, they were our local guides, taking us to their favorite places, including pintxo bars. ("Pintxo" in Basque means "spike," derived from the fact that many of them are served on toothpicks or skewers.) Eating them is simple, and tasty, as demonstrated below (the pintxo is a "Gilda" made with olive, anchovy and a spicy pepper).  (The GIF gets kind of annoying, so continue reading to get it off the page!)

We relaxed in a very nice apartment just above the popular medieval section of the city, Casco Viejo, which is where Max and Maddy live. We did not feel compelled to do a lot of tourist things because we had been to Bilbao in 2016 (see that post here). We re-visited the Fine Arts Museum (Bellas Artes Museo), a favorite, and were not disappointed. A major exhibit right now is items from the museum collection that have been restored, and a number of items had accompanying information, in photos and videos, of the restoration processes. There was also a major installation, Thirteen to Centaur, consisting of huge inflated tetrahedrons that speak to the empty, newly renovated gallery rooms of the museum. I questioned this installation at first, but then really started to get into it, literally and figuratively, because there are places where you have to squeeze past the inflated object. Here is a photo album of the installation.  

We also re-visited the Guggenheim Art Museum, and frankly, we both felt that the architecture is more interesting that the exhibits (maybe we were just tired?). 

We also had a few "sick days" while in Bilbao. We tested negative for COVID, so it was just some normal bug that got us both. We did not go to San Sebastian or the beach at Bay of Biscay as planned because of our sick days; however, that was fine, our goal was to relax and enjoy being, not always doing. 

The highlights, of course, were the times we spent with Max and Maddy when they weren't working, and getting a glimpse of their life in Bilbao. And to top it off, grandson Jake and his wonmanfriend Amanda from Los Angeles arrived in Bilbao the day before we left. And then granddaughter Sophie and two of her closest friends since childhood (and who we've known since they were born), Lily and Violet, arrived for a visit. So we had 2 grandsons and 5 granddaughters in Bilbao for a day! What fun. 

And yes, there are photos. A small album from this trip is here, and a larger album from 2016 is linked from the post mentioned (and linked) above. 

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posted by paul

SEEING BEAUTY WHILE STROLLING, SHOPPING & GAZING OUT THE WINDOW

 

This window is in the Mercado Ribera, in Bilbao. There are three floors filled with market stalls where fish, meat, produce, cheeses, baked goods, and even just mushrooms are sold. The second floor has a series of bars  serving pintxos, a basque word for small plates of various appetizers called tapas in other parts of Spain.

We found a shop where I asked if any of the elegant looking pintxos were "sin gluten" and the woman showed me what was and wasn't safe for me to eat. What I could have was delicious, and I went to tell her so. Then I enquired if there were any bakeries in the Mercado that might sell a pan (bread) sin gluten. She responded while pointing: "Arriba e una panederia con pan sin gluten." Ahhh, a beautiful moment!  The bakery also had cookies and pastries for me, as well as a full section of breads and pastries for Paul. 

Today the aesthetics we experienced were plazas, fountains, and the Museum of Fine Arts (we didn't get there yesterday). What a fabulous museum it is. The art exhibit was of art pieces in their collection, going back centuries, that have been restored. The exhibit included explanations, photos and videos of the restoration process for alter pieces,  paintings, a very old glass plate, sculptures, and photography. It filled our minds, our eyes, and our sensations. 

Another exhibit was of surrealistic and  modern art, some quite macabre. Mixed in were Goya, Braque, Gaugin, and some excellent but lesser known artists of those periods. 

On the Streets, in the Plazas

There seems to be a constant celebratory atmosphere of people coming together for drumming (Senegal) recognizing or memorializing holidays, street performances,  laughter and lingering at tables in the plazas, on the sidewalks in a spirit of thriving community. 

The beauty in all of this is soul satisfying. The surrounding hills, mountains and extensive red tile roof tops fill my eyes and heart. 

Sharing this time with our grandkids and their special people is the most beautiful experience of all.

Life is good!