Berlin, day 3

We set the alarm for 8.30 but still had a bit of a lie in. We went down for the same breakfast without the ham and with better tea. After putting our bags in the luggage room, we stepped out into a cold and windy day, and Jake went off to do some things on his own. Rachel and I went to the nearby internet cafe for me to check in and print off a boarding pass for the flight that night.

From there, we walked to Hackescher Markt to look at the markets more closely, but found that they had done a runner. It was a bit disappointing. We had the obligatory coffee and headed off to the next destination on our list. This happened to be Museum Island. Mental note, there are no ATMs in Berlin when you want them. We crossed the bridge and walked back, past some other markets that we decided to go back to, towards the Pergamon Museum. Its frontage is absolutely colossally huge, which you can’t really appreciate until you’re up close to it. Jamie had warned us about how big it was because of the size of the pieces inside. The tickets were €10 (we were hoping they were more than the Checkpoint Charlie museum) and we got a free audio guide with it. I checked my coat in, almost forgetting to take the corresponding tag. There was no floor plan in English, so we decided to do the half hour highlights audio tour and then fill in the gaps we wanted to. The first thing we saw was the Pergamon Altar. It’s enormous and it’s in such good condition. The tour took us into the Hellenistic Room, and then into a Roman Room where the Market Gate of Millet is. Unfortunately it’s covered by scaffolding, as it was made unstable by WWII bombing.

The tour took us further to see the Babylonian Ishtar Gate and Procession, which made a big impression on me with its colour and sheer size, considering it’s a small part of much larger structure. Then it finished. Rachel and I did the smaller rooms around the Ishtar Gate ourselves – they included Assyrian things like a model of the Tower of Babel. We went upstairs to look at the Islamic pieces. They were beautiful – and the section of wall of Mshatta Palace was impressive. Lastly, we went into the Greek and Roman Rooms, and there were some very interesting classical sculptures and busts. I learnt a lot here. I enjoyed this museum, even though it only contained things that the Germans had purloined, rather then actual German things.

We headed back out into the cold, still looking for an ATM. The first group of markets had some nice scarves, hats and arty things. There was some very nice glasswork fashioned into hanging ornaments which I knew I’d never get home safely. On our way back to Friedrichstrasse, we happened upon many more market stalls than we’d seen earlier. Here, I got a sausage, and the stalls included old records, jewellery, Russian dolls in the likeness of Mikhail Gorbachev and lots more. Very nice. By happy coincidence, we passed Bebelplatz and so went into St Hedwig’s. It’s nice inside, but not quite what I expected. The top of the dome is enclosed, unlike the Pantheon. There is a lot of glass used in the interior, and nice hanging glass light fittings near the organ. Stairs go down in the middle of the cathedral, and there are small chapels in underneath.

We walked on to Friedrichstrasse, finally finding an ATM near Stadtmitte U-bahn station. We were going to walk up to the restaurant into which Jamie had led everyone on the tour, but couldn’t be bothered, and found something nearby, even though none of it inspired me. I got a rather boring ham and salad roll, while Rachel picked a pumpkin seed roll with brie on it. We worked out the rest of the day, as it was very nearly dark. We had been intending to catch the S-bahn out to Zoo, because I hadn’t seen anything in the west, and the view was apparently wonderful from the train. Now that it was dark, it was really rather pointless. Other ideas included the Topography of Terror, the Berlin Phil, and the East Side Gallery. We settled for the East Side Gallery, got some good cake to take with us, and disappeared down into Stadtmitte U station.

We caught the U to Alexanderplatz, then with the assistance of a friendly American, the S9 to Ostbahnhof. Rachel used her uncanny sense of direction to lead us over the main road to what we thought was the wall, but was actually a more modern version. We kept walking and soon saw the real thing emerge. The section of wall was 1.3km, and the art works painted on it were really inspiring. I especially liked the wall’s CV section. Also, the one with all the people pouring through the gap was great. After a while, the quality declined and the budget had obviously not extended the whole way for refurbishment. Still wonderful. We found that we had walked ourselves much closer to the next station, and so got the S train from Warschauer Straße back to Alexanderplatz. We got off here intending to have a look around the square, but nothing was open and it looked like a very ordinary commercial mall anyway.

After marvelling again at Rachel’s uncanny sense of direction, we disappeared back into the underground and got the U2 back to Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz. We met Jake in the bar, and I quickly showed them my Vienna photos, and Rachel showed Jake what we had seen for the day. I only had time to retrieve my bag, pack up, say goodbye to Rachel and Jake before I had to head off. I had some fruit still to eat, but thought I’d find something else at the airport. I got the U2 to Alexanderplatz, and the trusty old S9 to Schönefeld. It was very easy to get into the airport since you couldn’t miss it.

I went through security fine with my bottles (they missed the bottle of water still in my bag), spurned Hungry Jacks even though there was nothing else to eat, and lined up for passport control. It took ages, then we had to wait at the gate for quite a while. The priority boarders got on, and thankfully they were boarding to both doors this time, as the wind wasn’t too strong. I got a window seat, bought some horrid, overpriced salt and vinegar Pringles from the cabin crew, and didn’t listen to any music, because my MP3 player was still not working. I was very annoyed. It didn’t help that there was a horrid loud Australian sitting behind me, and I was still quite hungry. The flight was smooth though. We landed at Stansted on time, and I rushed to catch the bus. It was late, but made good time back to Cambridge. By 11.45 when I got back I was very tired but satisfied.

Berlin is a fascinating place. If I go back I’d like to do the train to Zoo, the Berlin Phil, and Topography of Terror.