Tuesday, December 12, 2017

An unplanned day in Berlin

Nothing of note happened last night, December 11. It was dark when arrived. It was almost 6pm when I found my flat. And then I just walked aimlessly around the neighborhood. I couldn't tell you where I was if you asked. Don't ask, okay. It will save us both the embarrassment.

Today, though, I decided I would just see where the day took me. No plans. No agenda. Just, wandering. Okay, maybe it was a little more structured than that. I had a loose list of places I might go, but had really that was it. When I would get to one place, I would look at the list, and then decide.

So first (after getting some cash - never use a service to exchange money. They basically steal from you.), I headed to the Charlottenburg Palace

to see their Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market),

only to find that I was about 30 minutes too early.

No worries! I was hungry anyhow. So I started wondering and then decided, I would head to the Pergamon Museum. The market was open until 10pm anyhow, and since it was only 1:30pm, I needed to see the museums while they were open.

But no line was straight that day. I needed to switch trains at Potsdamer Platz from the U-Bahn to the S-Bahn, but upon coming up from the underground, I stumbled across another Weihnachtsmarkt! I walked around admiring the little shops, full of ornaments and decorations, scarfs and food. I stopped at this grand little place for a brat before heading on my merry way.


And holy moly. This thing was delicious. Not sure why the bun was so small though!

I did finally make my way to Museum Island, which houses not one, but SIX museums, all part of the Berlin State Museums. And, they only are housed on the northern end of the island situated in the Spree River in the central Mitte district. When I arrived, I was faced with a decision- should I visit the Bode or the Pergamon. I'm not sure why, when I had planned all along to visit the Pergamon, I suddenly felt torn. Afterall, I had no clue what was actually in either of them, and without access to the internet, couldn't even look it up. I had to go inside. First stop, the Bode, which is on the northern end of the island. It houses sculpture collections and late Antique and Byzantine art. I decided to head over to the Pergamon instead.

I was surprised by how small it was inside, considering how large the building was on the outside. But inside, I learned that it houses two immense buildings - the Pergamon Altar, the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, and the Market Gate of Miletus reconstructed from the ruins found in ancient Middle East. The museum is subdivided into three parts: the antiquity collection, the Middle East museum, and the museum of Islamic art. Below, the pics aren't great, as the GoPro was struggling in the low light and really, no other camera I had  could capture the enormity of these two reconstructions.



When I stepped back into the world after visiting, it was night time. And from the museum exit, I had a wonderful view of the Berlin Cathedral. Despite being dark, it was still early and the night was still young. 

The TV Tower was also visible as I walked into the Mitte district, I found yet another.... Weihnachtsmarkt! 

This one even had a ferris wheel and an ice skating rink. 

A wandered around inside again, realizing that while all the markets are rather neat, they are all rather identical. Same booths, same artisans, same foods. If you've seen one, you've seen them all. And now, I had seen three. I was getting hungry, so decided to head back to the flat and figure out the rest of my evening. Which, ended up being Korean food from Mmaah. So tasty. And the perfect end to a random day. 




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