Berlin

Berlin - We have feasted on a range of experiences.  A four hour walk around the main central attractions gave our 'Famous Walks' host the opportunity to talk his way through 750 years of tangled history.  Berlin means 'swamp town' in an ancient Saxon language.  Present day locals claim with a fair bit of justification Berlin is an 'eternal building site'.  Everything was knocked down in WWll so has been faithfully re-constructed or is new.  Add the different philosophies of East and West Germany expressed in architecture and after reunification this city is now reclaiming its status as the national capital - more building.  Construction is everywhere and will continue with a growing population of 3.2 million.

Museums - There are so many here they even have a 'Museum Island'.  The Film Museum had classic pics and clips of the early German pioneers inventing the medium.  Audio guides at the ready we skimmed 15th & 16th century master painters.  The Pergamon has a knock-your-socks-off collection of antiques.  Imagine huge halls that have reassembled classic Greek shrines or two story Roman temples and entire Babylonian city gates.

The Neues houses the famous Egyptian collection.  We were not the only ones interested in seeing Nefretiti.  The President of Mexico showed up with a small entourage of body guards, minders, official photographers and women.   I had just been told no photos of the fabulous bust by museum staff when el Presidente's road show entered.  We backed off as the cameras popped to capture the moment.  Miriam slid into the official party and was able to catch this quick shot.  Enjoy.  Moments later when the ordinary Mexican press tried to take their own pictures - No, no, no!

Berlin has their own TV / viewing tower.  Lovely sunny day for our 360 scan of the city.  Only an hour & a half wait for our time slot to go up.  By noon ticket holders had a two & half hours of pause.

Last day we toured the Topography of Terror, an exhibit of photos that walk you through the Third Reich's secret police and the other agencies of repression.  The scale of the evil is hard to absorb.  To the credit of present day Germany they are looking straight at the past and not equivocating on the shared responsibility.  This is something Japan or Italy are ducking - to the shame of their respective governing elites.

Came out of the exhibition to a major anti-racism / pro-refugees demonstration going up the street.  Lots of energy and noise, banners and two sound trucks alternating between hip-hop / raggae and political rhetoric.  Basically asking for refugees, once in Germany, to be treated humanly.  Guesstimate 2000 of mostly 20 to 35 year older - the crowd was more than three blocks long and covered the road.  We joined the march and ended up at the the Brandenburg Gate.  The sound of the chants off the gate made my heart swell.  Miriam had been looking for evidence of the alternative Berlin and it happened in front of us!

On an earlier, rainy evening we had wandered down the Avenue of Lindens, a fancy shopping street off the Brandenburg Gate, and a block sideways found shelter and a good supper in a small, wood paneled pub.  Sitting next to us at the crowded bar, an international German businessman said this place was a typical East Germany bar which he always visits when in town.  On our last night we retraced our steps and found it again.  Miriam had a cabbage roll - all meat, no rice - that took up most of the plate while 1/2 a braised pig's leg with red cabbage and boiled potatoes did me in.

Mastering each city's transportation network is an evolving puzzle of mental quesswork.  Signage and the availibility of systems maps varies from excellent, (London) to vague, (Brussels).  Berlin has 9 S-Bahn lines, U-9 Bahn lines, multiple tram lines and buses.  Our budget hotel was close to subway and bus but not on the lines to where we wanted to go.  We would hop from system to system, following signs that took us out of stations,  across roads and bridges and back down to a platform and transportation.  Germans must have excellent eye sight as the complex metro map is often ridiculously small.
We definitely need to return, since we missed the zoo/aquarium, the Dali museum, murals on the Wall, and much more.  And it was too cold for the nude beach!