Pounding the pavement; the pavement pounds back

     We started the next day with the bottoms of our feet throbbing. We took the train out to see the Bauhaus archives near Charlottenburg. Mary and I had seen a series of Bauhaus movies at Northwestern University's Block Gallery last fall and been wowed by them. The exhibition highlighted the women of the Bauhaus. 

These women were just as talented and strong, though often less acknowledged. A couple looked ahead of their time in that they would fit in with today's styles.

     And though the Bauhaus was on our list to see, it was included on this day because we both were excited to see the nearby Kathe Kollwitz museum. 

One of the greatest modern artists, she also dealt with social injustice issues. Her husband was a doctor in a working class neighborhood, and she dramatized many of the workers' revolts for better conditions during the early industrial revolution.

     One of her sons was killed in the first months of World War I, and that added antiwar pacifism to her works.

    

 ("Never again war")

     Afterward, we were both so tired and footsore that we decided to just suit next door at the Café Literaturhaus. It was another warm sunny day, and the tables were full, so we ended up sitting at the same table as a young couple. Another custom in Europe that I like, whereas in the U.S. I have had people sitting alone at large tables at full cafes tell me they would rather I not sit there.

    

     However, not long after we sat down, the young man blurted out swearing about a airline company and promising to give them a piece of his mind. Later, he offered up that the work he did for a recent art show was the biggest piece of [scheisse] that he had done and that he would never pay the organizers what he owed them. He nonchalantly said a couple of other horrible things, and I turned to Mary and said, "He is speaking in the worst person singular." So we managed to have a good time even if the company was not great.

     Afterward, we got ice cream at Peter Mohring. Then we went to our hotel. We saw that they had a happy hour, so we went and had a couple of drinks. Mary's drinks were Rosa Luxembourgs. I had a Lili's Love and a Rednose (again the name of a drink, not me after it). We called it an early night and hoped our feet felt better the next day.