Hans-Erich, having forgotten that we'd done these things
together years ago, decided to show me the sights. We
started at the Gemaeldegalerie, where the rotating
exhibition, entitled El Siglo de Oro, offered master
and some less master pieces of Velazquez, Zurbaran, and
El Greco, in a context of Spain as a world power in the
whatever it was, 16th and 17th centuries. We agreed to
meet outside and seek lunch at noon, but I regretted
that, wishing that we'd said 1 or 2 or even 3. As it was
I raced through the exhibition and barely had time to
soak in the atmosphere of one of the two Rembrandt rooms
(not a big thing - I'd seen almost all the works on a
previous trip and then at the traveling show when it was
at the National Gallery in London. I rushed through
efficiently enough that I had five full minutes to look
at the Cranach room and its collection of what Hans-Erich
calls "baroque pornography."

Well, as it turns out, Hans-Erich wasn't hungry, but I
asked him for recommendations of places to eat in
Wilmersdorf, so he admitted there was a joint nearby
that he liked to visit, and he spoke highly of the food
so I said, okay, I'll take you, and you can eat or not
eat as the spirit moves, so he said let's go, and off we
went. It turned out that on my wanders a couple days
before I had bookmarked a place with good Asianish
smells coming from it, for future reference. And that
this place and that were one and the same - Pho Bay,
right by the Blissestrasse U-bahn, and when we turned in
the door, Hans-Erich was greeted like a conquering king
by the hostess, who offered a spot right in front near
the door, where one could see and be seen.

We were just settled in when Hans-Erich muttered
something and went to the back of the restaurant - it
turns out that he'd seen Christiane having lunch with her
friend Jenny who had just returned from Kansas City, so
we relocated to their table and chatted about Kansas
City and serendipity among other things.

The ladies had eaten but stuck around with us sipping
tea until we'd had our lunch. Hans-Erich got tom kha gai,
and I had the special of the day, duck in red curry, a
large duck breast sliced to make it look even more
enormous and set over the usual vegetables - bamboo
shoots, red bell peppers, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini
(boo!), and one lonely snow pea. This was very authentic-
tasting once I put a teaspoon of hot pepper flakes in. I
could have been satisfied by half the portion and
wondered if I got extra by preferential treatment by
association. Or if I was witnessing the dissonance
between Thai food (the staff looked pretty Thai to me,
and the food tasted pretty Thai, despite the name of the
restaurant) and German portion size, so perhaps I was
getting the best of both worlds.

Quite good, quite reasonable in price, and the jasmine
tea was so strong it gave me a buzz for all afternoon.