Today I decided to go out to the end of the U7 subway line, the Rathaus Spandau (Spandau City Hall) station. From there, it is a short walk to the old part of Spandau (Alt Spandau), where I got these pictures.
Along the way are power boxes that have been painted. From the text on the side of one of them, I gather that it was a school project in 2010.
Walking further away from Spandau, you get to the Juliusturmbrücke, the Julius Tower Bridge. It is just a short walk to the Zitadelle Spandau (Spandau Citadel). See also this German-only website.
Of course, I had to go to the top of the tower. The stairs up to the first level are a tight spiral. From there to the top, the stairs wind around the inside of the tower wall. The view from the top was good today. If you go there, a note of warning: there are pigeons nesting inside the tower, so they may fly around you as you climb the stairs. Wear your hat just to be safe :)
And here are views from inside the fortress. The first one is a modern fountain, part of an art exhibition in one of the buildings.
In one area off to the side, you can see statues that used to line the Victory Boulevard and were damaged during World War 2.
And then, the walk back to Alt Spandau for lunch.
I stopped for curry wurst and french fries for lunch, and then went on to Konditorei Fester (Fester Pastry Shop) for dessert. I had the chocolate cream cake. The first picture shows some marzipan animals.
From Spandau, I took the S train (above-ground). My plan was to go around the city using the S-ring. The following rather blurred picture shows each station and how long it takes to get around each quarter of the ring. About the only good picture I got from the train was the picture of the hotel with the odd cylindrical shape.
Here’s the sort of advertisement you wouldn’t expect to see on a truck:
On the other hand, this is exactly the sort of thing you would expect to see in Germany. These are for Restaurant Maximilian.
At that point, I was very close to the Museum House at Checkpoint Charlie, which was a crossing zone from West to East Berlin. No photographs from there; it’s very much worth visiting, though.
Near the museum, at the corner of Mauerstraße and Schützenstraße is this immense sculpture. It’s called Houseball, by Claes Oldenburg.
The Jewish Museum Berlin was nearby, so I went there as well. I wasn’t in the mood to take pictures, so all I have from there is this area over the entrance.
I returned to the hotel, put down my stuff, and then went out to the Potsdamer Platz Arkaden where I had some not-very-outstanding chicken and noodle dish at an Asian restaurant.
At one of the S-bahn stops, I bought four one-day passes for 6.30€ each. They become valid when you put them in a little stamping machine on the bus or at the station, so you can conveniently buy them by the bunch. Having the day pass gives me the freedom to go anywhere I want to at any time without having to dig for change or spend time buying a transit ticket.
I am reading German advertisements, speaking to people in German, and hearing their responses in German, but I’m processing the results in English. That is, I can tell you what people said to me, but I can’t reproduce the German words they used. I can communicate, but the feeling is vaguely unsettling.
What do you do when you don’t have the vertical space to put the umlaut dots above a letter? You put them to either side or inside the letter.
Yet another example of inconsistent use of Fraktur. Notice the lowercase “s” in the word “straße,” written in two different styles on two signs in the same city. Go figure.
Herewith a variety of signs I encountered during my travels today. I really liked the artwork on the first one; the text was nothing important.
![Subway ad: “My cat [outline of cat face] Whiskas”](pics/1351_whiskas.jpg)
OK, this one is just so god-awful I had to show it. It’s a campaign poster, no doubt, and the text reads “My voice in the Bundestag (National Parliament) / Kai Wegner / In the Bundestag for you.”
The divided black/white sign for Napapirij (a clothing store) is visually a bit jarring. Warning: web site has sound
I really like the way that the tail of the Q becomes the 2 for
this upscale department store
(Quartier
206)
This ad isn’t visually great; it’s just the word “Mietwagen,” which means “rental car” but is pronounced like “meat vahgen.” This, of course, always conjures up the uncomfortable English phrase “meat wagon.”
This sign for a konditorei (pastry shop) shows an interesting cursive style.
I like the curvy letter “k” in this sign for the Orthopedic Center Kurfürstendamm
And finally, this sign for a men’s clothing store.
Text reads: “Fast is: not always having to wait for the next Photo.”