Day 6:
Tuesday was a little dull. We took a fairly looong train from Prague to Berlin. We arrived and checked into our hostel (Lette'm Sleep). Nice, clean, basic. Then we went to the Jewish Museum. The more abstract representations were really cool, but we were a little too tired (and hungry) to enjoy the historic exhibits. After (finally) finding an place to eat (and consequently eating), we went out for a nice glass of wine.
Day 7:
The next day we started with a nice breakfast in our room. We found a nice grocery store for some croissants, cheese, jam, juice, etc.
Then we made our way to the Bauhaus design museum. And despite the fact that the sing was huge and brightly colored, we still managed to walk right past it. It was also at this point that we learned lesson number 1: distances are long in Berlin. Walking a metro stop or not taking a bus is a very bad idea.
Lez loved the Bauhaus museum. The Bauhaus was a design school that emphasized funtion and design over tradition. For instance, the desk lamp with the cup-shaped metal (or now plastic) lamp shade? Bauhaus. Those chairs that don't really have legs, but more of a square loop of metal pipe (here for example)? Bauhaus.
Next we realized that not only is Berlin big, it's also quite cold. (lesson #2). We walked (and bussed) along to the Brandenburger Tor. It was too cold to really wander around and enjoy the Pariser Platz so we moved on to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. What is especially interesting is that the designers drew inspiration from cemetery we had just seen in Prague (click here to compare).
Then we moved onto the first museum district of Berlin (Berlin is so big that it practically has two museum districts). We started by passing by some historic buildings: Humbolt University, St. Hedwig's Church (or "The Upside-down Tea Cup"), the Neue Wache (an old guard house transformed into a national memorial), and the Opera house.
Finally we went into the Pergamonmuseum, which houses some really amazing ruins. The main Pergamon Alter depicts Gods fighting the Giants.
Next we went to the German History Museum (no photos, sorry). If I had a full day, I could have spent it here. They literally track history starting from the wandering Germanic tribes all the way through to 1994. It's cool because they explore history through the artifacts. Some things that they fail to highlight but do exist in the museum include: the Gutenberg Bible, a painting by Bosh, Napoleon's hat and sword from Waterloo, The Triumph of the Will, and some parts of the Berlin Wall. Yeah, really awesome!
Then we went to the Berliner Dom and climbed out to the top of the big dome. Rewarding views of the city!
At this point we learned lesson #3: There are no ATMs ANYWHERE in Berlin. We searched for forever and ended up having to ask three people before we could find one.
Our evening plan WAS as followed: Dinner near the Reichstag (because, wouldn't you know it but all there aren't many restaurants near the historic sights because NOTHING is near anything because Berlin is so big) and then a tour of the Reichstag. Well, part one worked wonderfully. We had a really great meal at a place called Café No! Lovely meal, good prices, wonderful atmosphere... perfect.
Unfortunately when we got to the Reichstag, we were turned away because apparently they changed their policy in November (so recent that none of the guidebooks have been updated yet): Now you need to make an appointment to get in THREE DAYS in advance so that they can do a background check on you. Yeah. So we didn't get to go in, only take a few pics from the outside.
Day 8:
This day was a little sunnier so a little bit warmer (as long as the sun stayed out). We started at the Deutscher Dom. This used to be a cathedral, but when it was bombed flat in the war, it was rebuilt and turned into a museum about the evolution of German Government. Kind of interesting, but a little dry because it's all in German, so the best you can do is the English Audio Guide (makes skimming a little difficult).
Next we went to Check Point Charlie, a museum at the old Berlin Wall gate. Inside were some really cool stories of escapes (like the man who built his own hot air balloon, or the woman who was snuck out between two hollowed out surf boards on the top of a car).
After lunch, we went to the OTHER museumy part of town. I was a little museumed out, so we spun through the Gemaldegamerie and the New National Gallery (not to be confused with the Old National Gallery, the New Museum, or the Old Museum... really, Germany? You couldn't be a little more creative?).
Of course our bus took so long that we gave up and ended up walking (oy) to our metro to get to dinner. I will say though, I did like the neighborhood our hostel was in. Smaller, more people, more shops. The problem with Berlin is that it's SO big and SO spread out that it feels empty!
Day 9:
This was mostly a travel day, but we did get to go into the New Museum and see Nefertiti's head and other Egyptian stuff. That was kind of cool.
Stay tuned for... I feel like Munchen on some pretzels and beer (sorry for the terrible pun guys)
For more pictures, click on The Berlin Bear:
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