That's Altes, folks!

Bitingly cold today (28F as I write this), with lots of perilous icy patches on the sidewalk. I don’t have a master plan, but there are a couple of things I’d like to get straight -- like where exactly do I pick up the bus for Tegel Airport on Tuesday morning, and where precisely is the Konzerthaus, site of tomorrow night’s abonnementkonzert. Neither task took long, and I scuttled into the Altes Museum, below, for a break from the cold.


“The Praying Boy” may be this museum’s most famous piece. It’s a Greek bronze work from 380 B.C. that was uncovered in Rhodes in the 16th century, and it’s remarkable for its provenance. Charles I of England once owned him, Louis the XIV had the arms added in the 18th century -- even Napoleon got into the act and claimed him as war booty. Since the arms were a late addition, we don’t know if he ever was really praying or not.


This is a detail from a Roman sarcophagus. Not even Adonis’ dogs can keep him from being eaten alive by a boar sent by the god Mars.


The building’s majestic rotunda. This place is not to be confused with the Alte Nationalgallerie, an 8-iron away. Altes = Greek and Roman. Alte = 19th century art. Make a note of it.


Yeesh. I can’t get away from Mr. Smug. There’s a Nespresso commercial with him and John Malkovich on TV every 5 minutes.


That's a Trabant, a sputtering, smoke-spewing vehicle people used to drive in the old German Democratic Republic. Folks seem to be quite nostalgic for them now.


The Russian Embassy. It’s hard to imagine this was the de facto seat of government from 1961-1989, when the GDR was a puppet state of the Soviets.


Today’s real seat of government, thank heavens -- the Reichstag. This is where Angela Merkel goes to work each morning.


Icicles on the Reichstag.


I’m walking along the Spree now, the Reichstag’s glass observation dome visible in the background.


Traveling on Sunday sucks because the trains run only about every 10 minutes or so, compared with 3 or 4 minutes on the weekdays. I browse a newsstand while waiting. You may notice Hitler peering at you from the magazine cover at right. Images of him and swastikas are generally illegal here, unless they’re used for satirical purposes.