Leapfrog

So I went to Germany for 7 hours… I was looking at possible day trips from Strasbourg and I saw that Baden Baden was nearby so I decided to hop on a couple trains and make the short journey. Goodness gracious, that is a beautiful place. The weather was lousy today, all gray skies and constant drizzle but Baden Baden was still beautiful. The flowering trees have just started to open up and small purple flowers are all over the lush green grass. There is a burbling brook that passes through the center of town, just between the cobblestone streets. It is a little wealthy fairytale.

When I got into the Baden Baden train station I immediately hopped on a bus as the station is fairly far away from the center of town. It was an interesting ride though, as I watched the houses grow grander and the streets fancier. Once I was in the town center there were signs that quickly pointed me to the Museum Frieder Burda, a mordern art museum currently hosting an exhibit of Gerhard Richter’s work. They also have works on display by Sol Lewitt, Andy Warhol, and Willem de Kooning, among others. It isn’t a very big museum, but the collection was good, and I spent a couple of hours with their collection. The Richter exhibit was comprehensive, with early work on the bottom floor and a special group of his paintings based on photos of the concentration camp Birkenau. I was hesitant about this exhibition, as I have my problems with abstraction and I wasn’t sure if I would feel that the pieces were evocative enough. I must admit when I first saw the pieces I wrote a rather nasty note in my sketchbook about being offended, but as I sat with them for a while, my opinion changed. They grew on me as my understanding of their depth grew.

After a productive and thoughtful morning at the museum I spent some time just walking along the main path/ miniature park in the center of Baden Baden as the rain cleared up a bit. It was lovely and very peaceful. I just listened to music and relaxed for awhile. Then I headed to Cafe Koenig to get a cup of coffee and consolidate my thoughts before catching the train back to Strasbourg.

What was really odd about today’s trip was the experience of spending 40 minutes on a train and ending up in a place where I didn’t understand any of the language and people were suddenly more unfriendly than before. The Germans I met were much less receptive to questions than the French so far, but that may be because I can manage more than “hello” and “thank you” in French. The crush of countries and languages in this continent will always amaze me.

The ride back was smooth and I didn’t get lost on the walk back to my hostel from the train station, so major success there. I’m afraid I didn’t take pictures besides the two in this post in Baden Baden, the light wasn’t very good and I was afraid the damp would mess with my camera. C’est la vie, as they say on this side of the border.