Awake at 7 am…our clocks are adjusting; made some calls home
even though it is late at night there.
By 9 am we were out the door and walking to the bus 200 stop about five
blocks away. We realized later we could
have caught the tram that far but the walk was good. Made us very aware of the bicycles that use
the paths along the walkways. There had
to be over 100 of them within the ten minutes that we waited for the bus to
arrive. And, they are people on their
way to work! It’s definitely a main mode
of transportation here in Berlin and all over Europe.
On the bus we headed for Potsdamer Platz; from there we
started walking towards the Museum.
Along the way we discovered the Sony Center. There were two walls of an old hotel that were
salvaged and under glass at the entrance.
The buildings are very modern and lots of glass! Suddenly there was Legoland and a large giraffe
made of Legos that we took a photo of for Barbara, Jim’s sister, as that is one
of her favorite animals. She’s been
asking us if we’d seen the Sony Building and so we were amazed when we spotted
it this morning.
Arrived at 10:30 am at the Gemaldegalerie, a Museum devoted
to Old Masters from the 13th to 18th century including a
favorite: Caravaggio. I found a place to sit and Jim enjoyed the
Museum for the next hour and a half.
He emerged about noon and we walked back to the Potsdamer
Platz to find the street to several Museums that I wanted to visit. The first one was the Topography of Terror
that sits on the site of the Gestapo Building during the Nazis Reign. It shows the horrible story of the persecution
of innocent victims from 1933 to the end of the war.
Then we continued walking to Checkpoint Charlie. The famous entry point from the Russian
Sector to the American Sector prior to the Berlin Wall. Lots of photos and then we headed back to
Potsdamer Platz where we caught the Subway to Brandenburger Tor…or Brandenburg
Gates.
We walked past the gates and continued to the Reichstag, the
Parliament for Germany. There was a fire
during the war. When they restored it
they built a glass dome on top of the building which one can enter and walk
round and round right to the top enjoying the views. But, you need a reservation and the line was
long so we enjoyed it from the outside!
We found the Memorial to victims that were killed trying to
escape over the wall and nearby a “WRUST J” where we purchased a large German hotdog on
a bun with drinks!
Our day of touring was over and we headed back to the
Subway, made one change and we were back at Alexanderplatz. We enjoyed the fair that has been going on
for the last few days and then caught the tram home.
Arrived about 3:30 pm and have been enjoying some quiet time
before we go out to find some German Pizza for dinner. Tomorrow we catch the train at 1 pm for
Dresden.
Below is the link for the slideshow:
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