My first Red Carpet!

 Yesterday, we met later than usual and went right to lunch, where we discussed Jewish life in Berlin with Dr. Juliana Wechsler. We ate at the Savoy Hotel restaurant!
I had another disappointing meal, since I wanted neither of the two specials: veal or pasta. I had eaten well for breakfast, so I settled on a bowl of fresh strawberries and whipped cream and I was fine.
Here's the red-red-red decor there: it matched my dessert/meal!


We then hopped on the bus and headed to Wannsee, site of the infamous Wannsee Conference. (For those who need their memories tweaked: that was when the Final Solution had its initial design and strategy discussed and plotted out.) We had a another excellent tour guide who showed us barely a tip of the iceberg called the Holocaust, yet we left having learned something (in my case, quite a bit).
From there, about half of us went to Potsdam, which is basically an extension of Berlin; indeed, many busses go there from downtown. We didn't see the magnificent Sans Souci Palace - one-time home of Frederick the Great - but after eating on a boat-restaurant, we went to a film premiere and saw the paparazzi shoot the red carpet! There were only a few "celebrities," including the director (see last week's visit to the Goethe Institute). But it was still wild!

The film fest: "More Jews in Cinema."

The film in question was a documentary film about Max Raabe, a modern crooner in the style of the 1920s and 30s Berlin. Many of his songs were composed by Jews. He is a blond German gentile. The film followed him and his Palast Orchester to Israel.As can be imagined, emotions ran high. (His trip was a success, btw.)
The highlight was when Raabe and his musicians, guests of the premiere, got on stage in their ties and tails and sang "Auf Wiedersain," a very poignant song from a bygone era.
Another magical evening!!!