Today I got an early start! I hope I'm over the jet lag. Packed my bag full of rain gear and my camera, and set off on a run to get my workout in and see more of the city. I wanted to visit Tiergarten and figured that a run through the expansive park would be a great way to do it. From where I was staying, there was a lovely path along the Spree with several entry points. I opted to run down the main streets toward Viktoria at the centre of the park. On the way back I ended up taking a different route, running around the centre of the park, and then heading up to the Spree where I ran along it again. In total I ran around 10k with a full backpack on, although I took breaks to take photos and eat a protein bar for breakfast.
I had a quick shower, finished packing, and headed to the airport for my flight to Nuremberg. When I arrived at 3:30 (my flight was delayed by an hour), it was pouring rain. My host couldn't be back before 5 and I didn't want to waste time since I have a short time here. I locked my bags away in a storage locker at central station (10 minutes walking from my lodging) and headed to the gallery which was the closest thing I wanted to see and everything closed at 6.
Paintings are always my first stop at art galleries for obvious reasons. The big paintings at this gallery were Durer's Charlemagne and Rembrandt's self-portrait. Much of the art was from Durer's students (he was a local) and a lot of the gallery focused on the history rather than a collection of famous works.
I've seen lots of art, but I was blown away by some of the detail in the paintings, even concepts. On many there is significant fading and I can only imagine the detail and colours when they were originally painted. I loved looking at some of the original drawings that were visible under the light colours.
The detail on some of the guilded pieces was mesmerizing, and I don't think i've seen that exact technique up close before. I was also amazed at the number of pieces that had been cut in half, or painted three or four times over the original because the style had changed or the original was considered vulgar as styles and taste changed. I studied more art history than the average person and this is something we didn't learn about in any of my classes, which is a shame.
The gallery also contained a lot of old church artefacts from many churches destroyed during war, and displayed them in giant gallery rooms intended to replicate the church experience. They also had a very unique antique music collection including some of the oldest surviving pianos.
I made my way to my air bnb where I met Christoph, who pointed me in the right direction for my travels tomorrow, showed me the wifi password, and said goodnight to go off to his girlfriend's leaving me completely alone in his place. Like Angie's, my room is modestly decorated but the place has everything I need to be comfortable.
For dinner I stopped at an authentic restaurant down the street called Schükenhof, where I had Schäufele mit Kloß and gemischtem Salat (fried pork shoulder with potato dumpling and mixed salad). I was going to order schnitzel but the waiter said this was more Fränkischer (franconian) so I trusted his judgement. It was AMAZING, although twice as much food as I could eat. I took the rest back with me for later. I'm not sure when, but I know it's going to be amazing at some point tomorrow. I finished with a franconian wine aperitif, which reminded me of a cross between a port and jagermeister. It was a solid end to a good meal, and I practically rolled into bed.