Berlin Day 2 : Touristing
A lazy morning was definitely appreciated this morning. Leaving Simon to work on an essay, Jessica and I headed into the centre of Berlin for a day of being tourists.
First stop was Potsdamer Platz, and while the area itself is full of banks, chain restaurants and cinemas, it’s a good place to start any Berlin adventure. As ex-German residents (Jessica more so than I) we were delighted to find a mini Christmas market by the station! Winterwelt, it turns out, had a decent amount of Christmas and food related stalls, a real snow sledging track and of course the obligatory Glühwein. Mmmmm!
From there we visited the peace bear sculpture garden, which we reasoned might well be the location of “that bunker” which people occasionally look for in this area. The piece bears are really fun, each decorated by a representative of a different country with the skill and technique varying wildly. Artistically some of my favourites include the Thai bear, Spanish bear and the Cuban bear.
By contrast the Holocaust memorial, understandably, has a completely different feel. Large imposing grey blocks of varying heights, from above it looks like they are all the same height because it is not immediately visible how deep the ground within dips.
Once inside, the feeling is one of claustrophobia and suppression. It’s really quite easy to feel lost even if you aren’t. Jessica was telling me that the manufacturer (Degussa) of the graffiti resistant coating on the pillars caused some controversy being involved in the memorial because a subsidiary of which were the manufacturers of the lethal gasses (Zyklon B) used in the concentration camps.
The Reichstag area was our next destination. The buildings by the river are very majestic. If you are interested in such things the German laws are inscribed on a wall of glass nearby.
We were very fortunate as we passed by the front of the Reichstag building to find that the queue to get in to the domed roof was very short. Twenty minutes later we had been filtered like sheep through security and were in the spiral dome.
Quite amazing autumnal colours and a 360 degree view can be seen from the top, including this amazingly high glockenspiel - apparently the fourth highest in Europe, though I don’t know where the other three are.
There is a café at the top—no really there is—the lunch buffet looked really fancy though we didn’t stop. Heading from west to east through the amazing 18th century Brandenburg Gate we enjoyed a Dunkin’ Donut in the beautiful piazza on the east side, which is only slightly marred by the hefty road-works but is still pretty.
Heading toward the pedestrian area of museum island, we bumped into an army and police brigade protecting a Luxembourg delegate, an interesting diversion
Our target was the Pergamon museum, well worth a visit! if only for the large roman sacrificial alter and amazing Babylonian glazed blue Ishtar gate
Later on, evening events took 15 hungry geeks to a restaurant nearby for a good meal and a happy end to an exhausting day!
