Berlin 2011 - 21 January

Went to the Bauhaus Archiv museum for design today. I passed the German equivalent of the YMCA; “Es macht Spaß, zu bleiben am CVJM!”

Logo for CVJM: Christliche Verein Junger Menschen (YMCA)

Here’s a really neat sculpture that actually functions as a staircase railing, and an interesting brickwork pattern.

Sculpture that is part of a staircase railing Façade of brick building in pattern of stripes and concentric squares

Three sculptures: two abstract, one realistic.

Abstract human-form metal sculpture sculpture of nude man with two nude children Sculpture of two stone rectangles topped by two irregular cubical stone pieces

Here’s a view from the Hercules Bridge near the museum, and the entranceway to the museum. Once again, this museum doesn’t allow photography.

View of river from Hercules Bridge Entrance to bauhaus-archiv museum; sign has red/blue/yellow colored rectangles as background

One thing I realized I hadn’t done was go to KaDeWe, the big department store on Kurfürstendamm. By “big,” I mean huge, and very very upscale. The sixth floor has a huge array of foods. Here’s just one of the pastry cases.

Pastry case at KaDeWe

On the walk back to the hotel, I went down Lietzenburger Straße and saw this odd pink piping that went for a couple of blocks.

Network of large pink pipes above Lietzenburger Straße

Today’s Signage

Sign on top of Berlin Berlin hotel; red script letters

Sign above the Berlin, Berlin hotel.


Cigarette ad with warning: “Smoking can be deadly”

No surgeon general’s warning here; the text reads: “Smoking can be deadly.”


Cartoonish duck in a car on top of a car rental agency.

A cute sign above a car rental place.


Sign reading “hell living”

The German word hell means clear or bright, so this is a store for Bright Living.


Sign with umlaut dots vertically stacked inside U

What do you do when you don’t have enough room horizontally or vertically for the umlaut? Stack it vertically inside the letter.


Today’s Bear

Bear painted in Mondrian colors holding a sign reading “art'otel”

Today’s Food

The Assala Restaurant near the hotel specializes in Lebanese food. I had the Chicken Maklube, which was chicken breast slices in basmati rice with roasted vegetables. It was very dry, so I am glad they gave yogurt mint sauce on the side.

“Hill” of rice and vegetables on lettuce; chicken breast slices are within.