Musical Saturday

Saturday began chilly, windy, and rainy.  I dressed for the weather.  It served me well at our usual breakfast place; we ate indoors. We both had coffee milk; Karin had muesli and an apple pastry and I had a Spiegelei, poached egg and veggies on bread, which was cold. We were both satisfied. 

We walked ten minutes to our nearest U Bahn station, Senenfelder, and took it longer than usual, to Wittenberg Platz. When we came up the stairs we saw our day's destination, Ka De We, Kaufhof des Westens. This seven storey department store was at one time the largest in Europe.  What we discovered was an upscale store; the ground floor sold expensive watches jewelry, and perfumes.  Staff stood in front of the Rolex and Tiffany, Chanel, Swarovski, Bulgari, and other rooms to welcome serious buyers and discourage picture takes like us.  Up to 70% off still meant that a $130 blouse was still out of our price range. Nevertheless we visited every floor and found some good souvenirs.  We also enjoyed the sixth floor.  Like a high quality grocery we saw a large variety of wurst, chocolates, breads and pastries, fish, wines, and coffees. Later we realized we missed visiting the cheeses. The seventh floor for us was the piece de resistance. I would describe it as an elegant cafeteria.  Many of the tables looked out over the city. We chose one to eat our cucumber salad and rinderrouladen, beef roulade with bacon, red cabbage, and potatoes of our choice.  We had four from which to choose the meal was delicious and the view of the city a amazing.  Although our purchases other than food were minimal it was a happy several hours we spent at Ka De We

We walked a few blocks to the remaining portion of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedenkstätte Kirche, memorial church.  It stands as a reminder of the horrors of war.  Inside the shell are photos which tell the story of its construction and use, it's almost total destruction and bombing at the Christmas Market on December 19, 2016. The hundreds were injured and 12 died. Their names, dates, and home country are inscribed on metal tablets and set on steps outside the church.  Also inside is a replica of the cross of nails in the partially destroyed Coventry Cathedral. Every Friday both churches read a liturgy for peace at the same time. The nearby bell tour is under reconstruction and covered with scaffolding.  The new church stands where some of the destroyed church stood. In a circle the inside wall consists of small pieces of deep blue glass. As the daylight changes so do the pieces of glass. We sat in silence. We decided to return for the organ vespers at 6 PM. Until we shopped nearby tourist stores and window shopped on Kurfürstendamm as well as shopping for a cool drink.

The organ vespers were nourishing. A gospel reading and blessing were offered. That was better than a supper, which we did not have. We then took bus #100 up Unter Den Linden to the Dom, the largest Evangekish, i.e. Lutheran cathedral in Germany for a choral concert of a Bach cantata and a Lutheran mass. Sitting in this huge edifice the music soared high, and this was a wonderful evening gift. The choir and soloists are from the Munster upon Zurich, and the supporting instrumentalists were, local. A very small and portable organ was a part of the small ensemble.

It was dusk when we made our way back to the hotel. We were very happy tired.

Susan