Something rare happened during this trip: I failed to unravel what makes Berlin tick. Meeting Rafa for a four-day break in the midst of a guidebook research assignment, he planned to show me why he loves the capital so much. In fact, everyone I know raves about Berlin. We saw killer museums, found interesting World War II remnants & enjoyed beautiful architecture; however, something seemed to be missing. What could it be?
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Deustchland? Not my typical Mediterranean home turf, for sure. I hadn’t been to Germany in at least 20 years, & all the cities above were completely new to me. With little time to brush up on some rusty, dusty German, I hoped for the best… & was pleasantly surprised. This book assignment helped me rediscover what a great destination Germany is. Let’s get going!
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Today kicks off the beginning of a month-long party —the Festas de Lisboa— & one of my personal highlights is seeing the winners of a sardine design contest. No, not real sardinhas but the shape of one. Get your sketchpad out…
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As a frequent visitor to the Prado in Madrid, I’d seen works by Antonis Mor —known in Spanish as Antonio Moro— for decades. But it wasn’t until the restoration of his portrait of Mary Tudor that I really took notice of these masterpieces.
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