Sounds like the beginning of a children's rhyme - one potato, two potato, three potato, four.... Actually, that was one of the modern works on the wall of an art museum in Stuttgart, but more of that later.
Second Advent, second candle lit. Bad photo.
On that Sunday, we went to Emden, as we have several times before. It's so nice to have a guide, to have some info. Thanks, Renate!
This time, the artist was Franz Radziwill, an artist from the pre- and post-WWII time, who was fascinated by landscape and technology. Frankly, he's not one of my favorites, but I love his clean technique and honesty to reality and fantasy. That sounds like a contradiction, but bear with me - his paintings are realistic with elements of fantasy that can be logically incorporated into the viewer's reality. And they (mostly) mirror reality.
An example:
The Water Tower in Bremen. The water tower was real and there/here until it got bombed during WWII. So, real. But the "town wall" and the little private gardens are fantasy. But both are realistically rendered and make a social comment - that technology is a looming presence over the people who do their daily work for sustenance. The message is apt, I think.
After some lunch, Werner and I took a walk in the (very) fresh air and then re-visited some of the exhibition and our favorite painting in the permanent collection there - the north German landscape. It was a nice day.
Skip to Thursday and we are off to Stuttgart. To a party. Yes, a long way to go for a party, but I really wanted to be there. Sandra is a client who turned into a friend and after 7 plus years of meeting almost weekly, we've got some history. A couple of years ago, she transferred back to Stuttgart, and this was a house-warming and pre-Christmas event. Of course, we wanted to do more than just go to the party, so, a long weekend.
Naturally, we wanted to go by train. Driving is especially stressful this time of year and frankly it's cheaper, faster and easier to ride the rails. However, the rails have been suffering lately - less investing in the infrastructure and so there have been more and more delays. I tend to be quite tolerant since there are often alternatives to anything cancelled. So it was. We got the other main station to find that our fast train had been cancelled, but then took the local train to Verden, just south of Bremen, where we caught up with our scheduled train! Weird, but it worked. Then to Hannover, a switch to another fast train that took us directly to Stuttgart. We snacked, and read, and snoozed with at least three times the leg room of a plane. And then we landed in the big city.
Folks in Bremen complain about the constant and forever roadworks here. It's worse there! The Stuttgart main station is undergoing a M A J O R reconstruction and getting around the station is confusing at best. A little bit uncomfortable, too. It took a while to fine our way out and we gave up trying to find out how to get where we needed to go and went to the tourist office. Wow. They figured out all the routes and gave us printed copies of all the connections and maps and advice. Great!
Arrive hotel. Not so cool and modern but clean and convenient. And the room! Pure nostalgia. The lampshades matched the curtains which matched the wall paneling which matched the upholstery on the built-in seating. But it was plenty room and there was a tub! Love me a tub: three days, three baths.
Sandra had recommended a favorite restaurant, so we opted for it Thursday night. Authentic Italian owned by Antonio, authentic Italian. We reserved for 6:30 thinking that was too early, but we were hungry and a little tired. We were the first diners there, but by 7:00 the place was full and lively! We had an
aperitivo and perused the menu. Lots of good choices, but then Antonio mentioned the off-menu offers, among them fresh pasta with white truffles. Oh, my, yes, I will have that! Werner ordered the Saltimbocca.
Everything was yummy delicious and we took our time and tried to eat it all, but as usual we failed. And then the bill. Buggy eyes: WHAT? My indulgence was 39 euros. Ouch, as in
OUCH. I think the price of truffles must have skyrocketed in the last 20 years since I last had truffles. Lesson learned: ask the price.
Saturday: breakfast and off to the Mercedes Museum.
Stuttgart is huge. The metropolitan population is almost as big as Atlanta but area-wise about one-third smaller. So, more compact. Traffic is a nightmare even with buses, trams, subways and region trains toting people around. It is just plain crowded. NOT taking the car was a great idea. Public transport is the only way to go and a stop right in front of our hotel was a huge plus.
On the way to the museum, we walked by the Porsche Arena. Stuttgart is the Auto-Stadt!
The Mercedes Museum building is itself quite impressive inside and out. But the inside stuff was especially fascinating. More than just the cars and the inventors - there was local and world history incorporated into the exhibits as well. And it is such fun just looking at these old cars. Such craftsmanship!
An early motorcycle.
Wheel details.
Crank her up!
Even the stairs were gorgeous.
Then, back into the old city and a short visit to a small part of the Christmas Market and some potato pancakes. They were OK. I think Bremen does them better, but, you know, I'm from Bremen.
Next! Kunstmuseum (Art Museum), locally known as The Cube, because it's a glass cube right in the middle of the pedestrian zone. Current exhibit: Ecstasy, tracing that emotion from ancient times to the present. It started with Bacchus, included political events, sports, dancing, music. Quite interesting and sometimes very loud.
We only glanced at the permanent exhibit. I have a medium tolerance for modern art, but for some modern art, I have minuscule understanding. Here, four black frames painted on the wall with the word "Bild" (picture) painted in the middle. I am not amused.
From the inside, a reflected view of the Christmas market outside.
That evening, we'd wanted to try a Thai restaurant that was nearby, but it was full. Second choice, a Greek restaurant. Clearly the server was the owner. What fun. We had a beer each. Werner had a mixed grill and I had stuffed eggplant and a salad. Two glasses of wine. Very yummy. Total bill: 38.90 euros, less than my truffeled pasta from the night before!! LOL.
Saturday was party day but the party was later, so one more museum visit. This time the
Staatsgalerie. We'd not researched their collection before our visit and frankly, you never know what might be on display since many museums have at least a third of their collection in storage and what is on display changes. Regardless, in my humble opinion, they have a wonderful collection because the range on their walls, from 15th century to modern, was impressive.
We saw north Europe artists, mostly German and Dutch, early Picasso, Monet, Manet, Matisse, van Gogh, Rothko, Cristo, Pollack, Morris Lewis, Piet Mondrian and more. Not a lot from anyone but a bit of all. It was quite wonderful.
Beautiful views.
A really happy surprise for me was seeing the original painting of Job and His Visitors by Eberhard Wächter. This painting will not appear in standard art history texts, but I have an etching of this painting, done in the early 19th c., bought in Tallahassee about 1989 from one of the art history professors at FSU. I was enchanted by the etching, partly because of the clear black-and-whiteness of it, partly by the incredible detail, partly by the size of it. Anyway, it's been hanging on a wall everywhere I have lived for the last 30 years.
What a simple joy to walk into a room and find this painting.
Here, Werner's examining art and I am examining the chairs: the Barcelona chair by Mies van der Rohe, a work of art in itself. The chairs or the stools were in every room. Beautiful.
Sculpture. "The Cleaning Woman." I swear this type of work makes me do a double-take. So realistic!
Iconic works from the "Blaue Reiter" group.
Picasso.
Rothko.
And Morris Louis.
But so much time on our feet! There was a nice little restaurant in the museum, so we took in some food and then went back to the hotel to pretty ourselves for the party and double-check the route on public transport. Werner figured out everything but we didn't figure in the football game. OMG - Stuttgart v. Berlin, getting out just as we needed to get in. One train after antother was packed like sardines, double sardines, TRIPLE! We squeezed ourselve in where there was no room at all.
The flowers we'd bought got squeezed, too, but what can yo do? After a couple of stops, 80% had debarked and then we had a comfortable ride to Sandra's.
Lots of food, lots of guests, folks I'd only met by email or Skype who I finally got to see in person. It was fun. And Sandra's little Jasper, now 3+, was a hoot, very sociable and so friendly. I saw him last when he was 3 months old, so he's changed a bit.
Another hour getting back to the hotel, some time winding down, and then in the morning we woke to a smattering of snow.
Pack up and check out. We parked our bags at the train station and wandered to the main part of the Christmas market. Wow. It's huge, as one would expect for a metropolis of 5 million. The "signature" of the Stuttgart market is the decorated roofs of the stands. So creative! Lots of greenery and small statues and such. Wonderful.
Then return to the train station. Pick up the bags. Board the train. OK, we're on our way. But then in Frankfurt there's a little glitch - the ICE was replaced by a train one rung lower on the ladder. No WiFi, but there were old-fashioned compartments with comfy seats for 6. Since it was just us 2 almost the whole way, there was room to stretch out and rest. Yeah, the trains aren't perfect, but there's lots to say for the service.
Nevertheless, it was a long day and when we got home at 10:30 o'dark it took a bit of time to wind down. But we have lots of fun memories of a great weekend away....
