4 Days in Berlin

I had wanted to come to Berlin essentially to see the Pergamon museum and it is magnificent.

Apart from almost overdosing on museums we made an excursion to Potsdam and rode the buses. The #100 bus goes past the main sites such as the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate. We also took #200 from end to end and as that ventures well into former East Berlin we got a hint of what a difference there was formerly.

We also found time to get to The History of Berlin exhibition which was excellent.It did not gloss over the dark Nazi past and also had fascinating artifacts from East and West. The exhibition included a tour of a Cold War bunker. In the event of a nuclear attack the advice was take cover. i,e, protect your head with your briefcase! 

Tonight we found a local restaurant for dinner. It was a lovely evening and we sat on the street and were joined by some German tourists from Cologne. Asparagus is in season and the fat white sort is delicious. The Creme Brulee was to die for.

Typical new apartment blocks

Detail of the frieze from the Zeus altar from Pergamum, 2ndC B.C.

Extremely fine parrot mosaic from Pergamum

The market gate from Miletus,near Pergamum (now Bergama) in Turkey. It makes Victoria Market in Melbourne look pretty ordinary.

Detail from the processional way leading to the Ishtar gate in Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon.

 The dyes used 400 years ago in these Turkish carpets are still bright.

The Brandenburg Gate hardly needs identifying.

Waiting for tourists at the Brandenburg Gate.

Typical grand baroque gateway in Potsdam.

Facade of Schloss Sanssouci at Potsdam. In the 18thC the German court spoke French,but the English Royal family spoke German.

Baroque details at Sanssouci

View of the grounds at Schloss Sanssouci.

The Chinese teahouse in the gardens at Sanssouci.

Detail from the Teahouse.

 Potsdam has its own Brandenburg Gate dating from1770.

In Potsdam, artificial lawn comes complete with flowers.

A visit to Berlin would not be complete without a visit to the remaining remnants of the wall.

The Altes museum in the Neo classical style which was popular in Berlin in the 19thC.

Funerary bust of a wealthy lady from Palmyra in Syria, 2ndC A.D.

East Berlin had a very cute little green man on pedestrian lights.

Bicycles are very popular in Berlin, but helmets are rare.

The entrance to the zoo. We kept passing it on our various buses.

Checkpoint Charlie - another Berlin icon.

Kurfurstendamm Strasse, West Berlin's answer to Unter den Linden. It is an elegant boulevarde and as yet Unter den Linden has only partially regained its former cache and does not really rival it..