Germany, Berlin

Our last day in Berlin. We leave for Amsterdam tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to that 6 hour drive. We hopped on the train again today (we are becoming quite expert at this) to go to "Museum Island", which is just that. A precinct of 5 or so museums on an island in the river. The only thing Roger was desperate to see in Berlin was the Ishtar Gate at the Pergamom museum. We had been told that this Museum was closed for renovations but by a fortuitous stroke of luck found that the rooms housing this exhibition were still open. And what an exhibition it was. This "gate" is absolutely spectacular and formed part of the entrance into Babylon so is some 6,000BC old. The photos do not do it justice. The museum it is housed in was built from 1910 to 1930 and the other museums were much older. Renovations both internal and external are an ongoing thing but still there is extensive evidence of damage from the 2nd world war - there are bullet holes in just about every unrenovated external surface. I can't imagine what it must have been like, and what it must have looked like at the end of the war. The precinct is lovely know, beautiful gardens with statues everywhere.

We had lunch t a Spanish tapas place in the local market square listening to an Aussie girl busking. Tonight we head off to a roof top restaurant (next to the bar we went to) for dinner. The only table we could get was at 9.30. I'll either be starving or drunk by then.Read more