Berlin Day 17 (1 August)
Another biggish walking day. Never seem to feel hungry, suggesting I am eating way more than usual, so walking is a good thing. Started day walking along the side of the Tiergarten - still very pleasant. Stephen excited by the oak trees dropping acorns everywhere. Apparently acorns are on our family crest. Headed up to one of my favourite parts of Berlin - the Brandenburg Gate. Such an iconic sight. Then strode along Unter den Linden. One of my favourite streets. Just love the history of the place. The first time we were here the Wall had just fallen and Unter den Linden was lined with people trying to sell you pieces of the Wall and bits of Soviet memorabilia. The next time, shops were starting to appear - luxury car showrooms for some reason. This time we detoured into the Hotel Adlon. Mainly because we wanted to find a bathroom but we both remembered it from a book - The Good German. Read later that it has been completely rebuilt since then but is a very glamorous hotel inside. What a location. Unter den Linden is now a very pleasant boulevard to stroll down. Also detoured into Meissen shop to admire the porcelain. Beautiful things. Walked out with two 2 little angel heads - only very little but we couldn't resist them. Did find a car showroom too. Went in as had some very impressive electric cars that aren't in Australia - something called a ID.3 (a VW) caught our eye. Very flash and some sort of Skoda that looked like it had racing car seats - both front and back. Also Volkswagen were promoting something called "WeShare" - a car sharing concept but only with electric cars.
We were heading for the German Historical Museum. Never been there for some reason. Both found it very interesting. We emerged some 4 1/2 hours later, hopefully a bit wiser on our German history. It traces German history from the Middle Ages to the fall of the Berlin Wall. There is a huge amount of information and exhibits to look at and absorb. There is an interesting film showing the changing face of Europe and the way Germany as we now know it came into existence. Fascinating seeing how the various European States/countries came and went over time. Lots of bits in the Museum about the succession wars as various states fought over who was to rule; endless squabbling over territories; the impact of Martin Luther, Calvinism; the Holy Roman Empire and more recent bits about Metternich, Napoleon, and of course WWI and WWII, Cold War and re-unification. That's not all of it. Quite exhausting really. Realised how limited my knowledge of German history is, although to be fair it is so complicated by the changing landscape of countries, States, rulers etc over time that I am probably not alone in that. I will admit to getting a bit of the giggles at some of the portraits of important people - primarily men. There were a lot of ridiculous looking nobles whose portraits were painted. I started to take photos with the view of making a collage of pompous men.
Realised had not stopped for lunch once we had finished at Museum and it was 3pm so went back to Gendarmen-markt and shared an apple and banana contemplating the various buildings and statues again. Stephen keen to re-visit shop with the best chocolate so we had a return visit there as well. Also stopped in on the Mall of Berlin. Very large, new shopping centre. Lovely and light. All the usual brands. Didn't want to do any shopping, just enjoyed wandering around. Did more scenic route home along local canal and fell back into the hotel around 5pm. My legs felt well used.
Dinner at another local restaurant - Noah's. Both opted for traditional German fare again. I had some rather nice beef and pork meatballs with mashed potato and roasted veg. Stephen had Bratwurst with sauerkraut and potato. Waitress kept forgetting we speak very little German but we managed to get by through recognising the odd word here and there and smiling a lot.
We were heading for the German Historical Museum. Never been there for some reason. Both found it very interesting. We emerged some 4 1/2 hours later, hopefully a bit wiser on our German history. It traces German history from the Middle Ages to the fall of the Berlin Wall. There is a huge amount of information and exhibits to look at and absorb. There is an interesting film showing the changing face of Europe and the way Germany as we now know it came into existence. Fascinating seeing how the various European States/countries came and went over time. Lots of bits in the Museum about the succession wars as various states fought over who was to rule; endless squabbling over territories; the impact of Martin Luther, Calvinism; the Holy Roman Empire and more recent bits about Metternich, Napoleon, and of course WWI and WWII, Cold War and re-unification. That's not all of it. Quite exhausting really. Realised how limited my knowledge of German history is, although to be fair it is so complicated by the changing landscape of countries, States, rulers etc over time that I am probably not alone in that. I will admit to getting a bit of the giggles at some of the portraits of important people - primarily men. There were a lot of ridiculous looking nobles whose portraits were painted. I started to take photos with the view of making a collage of pompous men.
Realised had not stopped for lunch once we had finished at Museum and it was 3pm so went back to Gendarmen-markt and shared an apple and banana contemplating the various buildings and statues again. Stephen keen to re-visit shop with the best chocolate so we had a return visit there as well. Also stopped in on the Mall of Berlin. Very large, new shopping centre. Lovely and light. All the usual brands. Didn't want to do any shopping, just enjoyed wandering around. Did more scenic route home along local canal and fell back into the hotel around 5pm. My legs felt well used.
Dinner at another local restaurant - Noah's. Both opted for traditional German fare again. I had some rather nice beef and pork meatballs with mashed potato and roasted veg. Stephen had Bratwurst with sauerkraut and potato. Waitress kept forgetting we speak very little German but we managed to get by through recognising the odd word here and there and smiling a lot.
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