From a groggy jet-lagged breakfast to a foggy late night in the Weinkeller with Oliver and the staff, we never stopped.
First things first - the food, of course. We were downstairs for breakfast around 8 o'clock. Muesli, fresh fruit, yogurt, 5 kinds of bread, ham, prosciutto, bacon and eggs, sausages of all kind and color, salmon with creme fraiche, several different cheeses, orange juice and mineral water and many cups of coffee were consumed, and at 10 AM we were out the door.
First things first - the food, of course. We were downstairs for breakfast around 8 o'clock. Muesli, fresh fruit, yogurt, 5 kinds of bread, ham, prosciutto, bacon and eggs, sausages of all kind and color, salmon with creme fraiche, several different cheeses, orange juice and mineral water and many cups of coffee were consumed, and at 10 AM we were out the door.
One of the main features of the town is the Lichtentaler Allee, and on a Fall Sunday afternoon it was filled with Badeners out for a stroll. The towering poplars were just turning yellow and it was beautiful.
We made our way to the Frieder-Burda Museum (Richard Meier - flat planes and lots of glass, the separation between interior and exterior was as minimal as an art gallery could be) which was exhibiting a show of the Blaue Reiter salon.
There's no checking out Kandinsky, though, until you check your coat and bag downstairs, which required a trip through the Gunther Sachs exhibit. Mostly whimsical, borderline pornographic, but visually stimulating if nothing else, it was the kind of thing I wouldn't have walked across the street to see, but as part of the coat-check process it was actually worth the time.
The Blaue Reiter was another story altogether.
The Blaue Reiter was another story altogether.
Well over 100 canvases documented this step into modernism. The importance of color, the "planar-ization" of space, symbolism, mysticism, abstraction, all of the expressionistic features were fully explicated throughout the entire three floors of the museum. The exhibit was stunning, but by noon, the museum had gotten so crowded that they weren't letting anyone else in. The Frieder-Burda is connected to the old Staatlische Kunsthalle by a cafe, the "decor" of which simply defies words.
One that does come to mind is "nauseating," which sensation was only reinforced by the post-modern interior "furnishings" on display in the galleries.
The day was much too pretty to spend in such surroundings, so we ventured back out into the park for an afternoon of further discovery. Baden-Baden must be beautiful all four seasons of the year, and the rose garden off the Allee Lichtentaler must be a wonder during the Spring and Summer.
Between manicured hedges, centered on a classic fountain and carp pool there were hundreds of different roses, many still in bloom. Rose trees, vines, bushes of every size and color were there.
The Staat Museum documents the history of Baden-Baden for the past 2000 years. There is a room full of Roman grave stones, boundary markers, architectrual fragments, vases, tools and knick-knacks, all found in or within a few kilometeres of BB. One realizes that we know so much about the Romans because they recorded so much of what they did - a grave marker might name the parentage of the deceased as well as his own birth and death times. The museum continues up through two world wars and to the present.
Baden-Baden has burned twice - once naturally, once at the hands of the French.
Perhaps that explains the predilection for masonry architecture in the town. I don't think we saw a single frame building. Everywhere the walls are stone a foot or two thick, roofs covered in terracotta or slate.
Baden-Baden must have kept her head down during WW2, as it was spared any combat. There was a camp here that housed French POWs, the Fuhrer made a visit at one point, but it was not a significant war area. The town's Jews, who numbered a couple hundred, were deported to Poland, and it is thought that 60 or 70 were killed.
All the walking and gawking put us in a coffee mood, so we grabbed a piece of cake and a cup at one of the many cafes off the Leopoldplatz. Recession? What recession? You see no empty storefronts in this town. The streets are spotless, planters abound, everything is in order, the people appear prosperous, cars expensive, and very little sign of down-and-out people.
Always favoring something off-the-tourist-beaten-track, we decide to eat at the Gockelstube', a tiny room with a half a dozen tables and a couple of dishes scrawled on the chalkboard outside. Our initial misgivings about the service there, well-founded on the server's (who turned out to be the owner's wife) surliness, were no match for the delicious food that came out of the kitchen. After they finally took our order, the man at the bar (the owner, of course), disappeared into the back. When he returned, he had Judith's steak, cooked perfectly and served with a mountain of pommes frites. I ordered the jagerschnitzel on recommendation of another diner, and it was truly out of this world, smothered in a rich brown mushroom sauce.
As our dinner tapered off, we struck up a conversation with Pieter and Renata, a German couple at the next table. Like almost everyone we met, they were friendly and spoke English fluently. We passed a fun hour with them and walked out together and up the hill - his apartment is just around the corner from the Rathausgloeckel.
We decided to stop in at the Weinkeller for a nightcap, and were greeted by Christophe and Oliver, who were just settling down from a visit by the Ukraine President. Oliver is a US native, and also a citizen of Germany and Ukraine (the last for $500, which includes a passport). He served in the German army and later enlisted in the US Army so he could serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has high security clearance, and has hosted many world leaders at the hotel. Quite an interesting guy. The subject of American country music came up, and he turned the CD player to Garth Brooks and proceeded to talk good southern and do his Garth Brooks dance. Before we knew it, it was 2 AM, so up the stairs we went.
Additional Baden-Baden pictures are at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/pres.nowlin/BadenBaden02#
The day was much too pretty to spend in such surroundings, so we ventured back out into the park for an afternoon of further discovery. Baden-Baden must be beautiful all four seasons of the year, and the rose garden off the Allee Lichtentaler must be a wonder during the Spring and Summer.
Between manicured hedges, centered on a classic fountain and carp pool there were hundreds of different roses, many still in bloom. Rose trees, vines, bushes of every size and color were there.The Staat Museum documents the history of Baden-Baden for the past 2000 years. There is a room full of Roman grave stones, boundary markers, architectrual fragments, vases, tools and knick-knacks, all found in or within a few kilometeres of BB. One realizes that we know so much about the Romans because they recorded so much of what they did - a grave marker might name the parentage of the deceased as well as his own birth and death times. The museum continues up through two world wars and to the present.
Baden-Baden has burned twice - once naturally, once at the hands of the French.
Baden-Baden must have kept her head down during WW2, as it was spared any combat. There was a camp here that housed French POWs, the Fuhrer made a visit at one point, but it was not a significant war area. The town's Jews, who numbered a couple hundred, were deported to Poland, and it is thought that 60 or 70 were killed.
All the walking and gawking put us in a coffee mood, so we grabbed a piece of cake and a cup at one of the many cafes off the Leopoldplatz. Recession? What recession? You see no empty storefronts in this town. The streets are spotless, planters abound, everything is in order, the people appear prosperous, cars expensive, and very little sign of down-and-out people.
Always favoring something off-the-tourist-beaten-track, we decide to eat at the Gockelstube', a tiny room with a half a dozen tables and a couple of dishes scrawled on the chalkboard outside. Our initial misgivings about the service there, well-founded on the server's (who turned out to be the owner's wife) surliness, were no match for the delicious food that came out of the kitchen. After they finally took our order, the man at the bar (the owner, of course), disappeared into the back. When he returned, he had Judith's steak, cooked perfectly and served with a mountain of pommes frites. I ordered the jagerschnitzel on recommendation of another diner, and it was truly out of this world, smothered in a rich brown mushroom sauce.
As our dinner tapered off, we struck up a conversation with Pieter and Renata, a German couple at the next table. Like almost everyone we met, they were friendly and spoke English fluently. We passed a fun hour with them and walked out together and up the hill - his apartment is just around the corner from the Rathausgloeckel.
We decided to stop in at the Weinkeller for a nightcap, and were greeted by Christophe and Oliver, who were just settling down from a visit by the Ukraine President. Oliver is a US native, and also a citizen of Germany and Ukraine (the last for $500, which includes a passport). He served in the German army and later enlisted in the US Army so he could serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has high security clearance, and has hosted many world leaders at the hotel. Quite an interesting guy. The subject of American country music came up, and he turned the CD player to Garth Brooks and proceeded to talk good southern and do his Garth Brooks dance. Before we knew it, it was 2 AM, so up the stairs we went.
Additional Baden-Baden pictures are at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/pres.nowlin/BadenBaden02#
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