Shopping at Galleria

We spent much of Saturday afternoon at the Galleria Kaufhof in Alexanderplatz. It reminds me of the big, handsome, full-service department stores of my youth, places like Hudsons in Detroit or Marshall Fields in Chicago. Both are now gone and the whole concept of a big store with helpful staff seems to have vanished with them, at least in the US.

This Kaufhof is not quite as big as Hudsons (13 stories) or Fields (two buildings and about 8 stories), and it does not have quite the range (no furniture), but it does have the service concept and relatively nice goods at a more reasonable price than KDV (Kaufhof des Westens -- Berlin's really upscale store).

I was supposed to get a new winter coat yesterday, since coats from last season were on sale, and I did try on dozens. Trouble is, the ones I liked were not in my size, which is a typical sale problem. If only I were very fat or very tall. ...

We did use the opportunity to have a cup of tea (or in Joan's case espresso) in the top floor cafe, where we could look out the window at other buildings on the square. I practiced drawing there too, with the goal of doing a better job including the surroundings. (See drawing at the right.)