Saturday, November 28, 2009

Chinese Colors

In Beijing, I was told "Blue is for the Heavens, yellow is for the Emperor, green for the Empress, and grey for the people". Beijing is nothing if not sensory overload, but the colors mostly are the same. Blue is usually bright cobalt blue (except for beautiful ultramarine tiled roofs) and red is always bright red, "the color of blood". Buildings are a soft warm grey.
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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Durian

The yellow spiky fruit on the right is durian, which has a smell so objectionable it is banned from hotels and public transportation in Southeast Asia (but maybe not in China). A friend called it 'corpse fruit'.
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It's not Daddy's China

Posted by PicasaWhen my father visited mainland China in 1980, it was so filthy they couldn't use the towels and brushed their teeth with Scotch whiskey. Not anymore. The parts of Beijing a tourist is apt to see are spotless. The Beijing airport, with its spit-and-polish officials, make most US airports look even worse than you thought.

Ishtar Gate, Pergamon Museum, Berlin

The Ishtar Gate on display is the smaller of two gates erected in Babylon around 575 BC. The gate is constructed of bright blue ceramic tile that was excavated in the 1930s; one wonders how they dug this out. This gate is roughly 45 feet high, and extends through a long gallery. The larger gate is in storage.
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Monday, September 28, 2009

Potsdam Politics

Potsdam is the capital of the Brandenburg province, and a short train ride from metropolitan Berlin. I think they were geared up for the election, too. This crane lifted three guys at least 120 feet, we figured, for perhaps a signal relay to a venue behind the Potsdam Brandenburg Gate.

This was definitely not the time to have either the wrong color skin or the wrong color passport. An Al-Qaeda video was broadcast a few days before the election, and it was taken very seriously. Police with bullet-proof vests and rifles at their waists were all over the train station and airports.
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Friday, September 25, 2009

Stranded at the Reichstag





On the way to the next museum on my list, I was feeling really smug about getting around in Berlin, when the bus stopped in front of the Reichstag - home of Germany's Parliament. The driver made a long announcement which of course I didn't understand, and most of the people on the bus (a big double-decker) got off. So I did too. I had noticed a lot of film crew trailers around; I walked up to the Brandenburg Gate, which looked like it was getting set up for a concert. Still not getting it, I saw they were blocking streets and barely letting any traffic, even busses through. Finally I find the bus to take me back to the station, which then gets stopped for a long time for a whole lot of police, mounted police, and finally a motorcade around a big black Mercedes, which slips into Bellevue Palace, which is the residence of the German president. (The flag flying indicates the president is in residence. I don't think those dogs are there for exercise) The blockades, platforms and film crews? Sunday is election day. Angela Merkel (who is exactly my age) is supposed to be the clear winner. Moral? Always scope out local events. The Berlin Marathon messed up everyone else last week.
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Thursday, September 24, 2009

Museum Island

Construction and bikes everywhere. Everybody in Berlin rides a bike (it's flat). Mostly 'step through' or what we think of as 'girl's' bikes: that includes macho looking guys with shaved heads.
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Pergamon Museum, Berlin

The Pergamon is one of four enormous museums in the "Museum Island" in Berlin; this is in the Mitte, the historic part, which would have been in the east German side, behind the Berlin Wall. The museums date roughly from the 1800s; the Pergamon is shrouded almost entirely in plastic , which gives it kind of a "Christo" effect .

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

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Gemaldegalerie, Berlin


This is the finest collection of European art, in the best setting, I have ever seen. This is a closeup of an Albrecht Durer portrait; in his eyes you can see reflections of windows and even moldings. The gallery is in a new facility: the collection is as if all the art books you used to look at just fell open. Vermeers, a room full of Rembrandts, Hals, Cranach, fabulous loose Rubens, Bosch, van der Weyden...
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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Not Exactly how I pictured Berlin

The Charlottenburg Palace, in Charlottenburg, which before unification was the affluent part of West Berlin. Except for things like this it reminds me of Durham. The interior is overwrought Baroque, but with very fine Chinese porcelain. The clipped bay trees in painted whiskey barrels are very cool.
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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Rosie, Danville Train Station

My old friend Rosie (nom de blog) is the best, and certainly the most indefatigable, cook I know. Her recent posts on dealing with a pig's head are something other than else. Her recent posting on the Danville, Virginia, central market reminded me of this. Photograph in the Danville station, around 1972.
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Saturday, August 29, 2009

Espaliers

I thought espaliers existed only in gardening books. This is one of many pear trees espaliered in the garden of St Anne (a beautiful public garden and public library too.) The pear trees are underplanted with roses.
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Creperie, Perros-Guirec

Ever wondered what a Breton creperie kitchen looks like? Now you know.
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Marina, Perros-Guirec


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Thursday, August 27, 2009

Market Day, Lannion

Because nothing says 'Celtic' like a harp. The mike is a nice touch, though.
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Lannion Street

Those large corner borders? They are secret gardens, too.
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Convent of St Anne's

A 17th century convent in the middle of town. A lovely public garden, a public library, and an engineering dept of the University of Rennes live here too.

St Anne's Garden

It took me a while to figure it out but this is a working garden shed.
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Tuesday, August 25, 2009

This one's for Rosie

A galette Breton, which is a staple here. It's a buckwheat crepe about 13" or so, folded, with fillings. This had ham, onions, cheese, a few steamed pototo slices, and egg. The recipes I've seen use only buckwheat flour, not a mix of wheat and buckwheat flour like you usually see. The crepes are thin and crisp, not spongy. The fillings are not lavish so it makes a nice lunch.
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Lannion shopping district.
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Monday, August 24, 2009

Municipal Flower Border

A border near the bridge - probably 20' or so long. It contains scented geranium, lavender, Queen Ann's lace, maybe, artemesia, rubber plant, who knows what else. Lots of purple and blue annuals. What happens when they rip this stuff all out for the next season? You would think there would be armies of workers to maintain this perfection, but you don't see any.
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Lannion Bridge

One of the main bridges in the center of Lannion, which is a few miles inland from the Breton coast in northwest France. It is a mercantile town with a great deal of telecom (France Telecom, Alcatel) near by. It is also 'ville fleurie'. There are flowers everywhere, on lampposts, bridge railings, borders, corners, roundabouts, everywhere. Every single one perfect, not a wilt or weed anywhere. It is also the hydrangea capital of the universe.
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