I took a long way around on my way to Neue Nationalgalerie to see the current Monica Bonvicini exhibition as well as the 100 works by Gerhard Richter currently on (permanent?) loan and swung by two good birdwatching spots in Tiergarten. I am doing OK as long as they sit still :-).
First up – those exotic-almost-unreal, but vicious bullies – the Mandarin Duck, are back. The scare the domestic duck, although those are twice their size. I was happy to see – from above on a bridge – that they are are as inelegant in the air as they are in their behaviour towards the native species.
Yesterday, it rained heavily most of the day, but we did manage some shorter walks in the neighbourhood. Caught these two photos at Kottbusser Tor:
We did get caught by torrential rain and a thunderstorm and had to take shelter for a while. The thunder and lightning did not seem to bother Max, but standing still outdoors after having become soaking wet unfortunately made him cold to the point that he was shivering quite badly, so at some point I had to make the decision – stay sheltered from the rain or make a dash for it and at least be moving. Decided on the last option. Also, while towelling him down back home, I discovered two large ticks and at least one smaller one already lodged in his skin, so off I went to the pharmacy to get a tick-removing tweezer. I knew this would happen sooner or later so I had already watched some youtube tutorials on how to remove ticks from a dog. Luckily, Max was patient and stood completely still for the duration, and I was only slightly creeped out. I shall just have to get used to it, but I am glad this years’s tick season will be over soon. Here is the first result (after I submerged them in a glass of water, and before I flushed them down the toilet):
So far today, Max does not seem to have any after-effects of neither getting so cold nor the tick removals.
I have been missing going to the Neue Nationalgalerie during its six-year long renovation and refurbishment by David Chipperfield Architects, and it finally reopened a couple of weeks ago.
This morning, I wasted a considerable amount of time trying to navigate what turned out to be a mysterious ticketing system (once you have chosen a date, they decide on the time slot, which seems to be automatically set to about half an hour from the time of booking (if you are trying to go on the same day), and then you have a window of fifteen minutes to enter), so you had better be ready to print the ticket and be on your way after confirming the booking and paying. This also means that people who live more than 45 minutes away do not stand a chance of visiting. I spent a considerable amount of time verifying that this was indeed the procedure, and when I finally decided to book a ticket and pay, I got the message that there were no more tickets available for that day. I found the whole thing strange. Perhaps it is just a temporary glitch.
Determined to make the best use of my me-time, I then booked a ticket, immediately and seemlessly, for my backyard neighbour – Berlinische Galerie. Always worth a visit. Their current temporary exhibition is Alicja Kwade, and their permanent exhibition upstairs can be re-visited over and over and you will keep discovering new works. There is also a nice café with quite a lot of outdoor tables and chairs.
