Thursday 12 May - Berlin

I went off to explore museums yesterday and to have a bit of a wander through some of the backstreets and byways on the Eastern side of the Spree, then over the bridge to cross to the museum island from the west. Four of the major museums are sited on this island - all are over 100 years old and monumental.

The Bode Museum from a bridge

They're all undergoing reconstruction and repair work one at a time with 2 of them completed, one being the Bode.

The Bode houses an astonishing collection of sculptures, artifacts and architectural elements from the Byzantine and west Roman periods from 3rd to 15th centuries. I've seen a fair bit of this period now, including the exhibition at London's Victoria and Albert (the V&A), which although a huge exhibition, pales in scope to the collection in the Bode. It's all beautifully curated and it was interesting to be able to get behind the altar screens and see the construction of them. You can also get up close to see the detail on the wood, bronze, marble, alabaster and (in one case) wax sculptures which makes a change, as each is mounted on its own pillar with plenty of viewing space around.

The building itself was purpose built to house the original collection and is its own work of art and gobsmackingly beautiful inside, with immensely high ceilings including 2 huge domes, and flooded with natural light.

After several hours happily wandering around and listening to the audio guide at the relevant numbers (really good guides in all the German museums I've found), I headed out, back over the bridge, along the road a bit to the Pergamon. One thing that amused me is the way the elevated train line runs between these buildings. Looks like the modern present really separates the past.

One of the things I'd been recommended to do here in Berlin was to see the Ishtar Gate. What I didn't realise was that the Pergamon was built to house not only this one massive archeological piece, but several even bigger ones.

The building itself is built to reflect the classical architecture of the structures it houses, and has just commenced it's period of repair and reconstruction work.

All 4 of the museums were damaged in WW2 and on the outer wall of the Pergamon, you can still see chunks missing from some of the pillars.

The collection itself is stunning in size and quality. The pieces are the result of agreements made between German archeologists and the governments of the relevant countries around the turn of the 20th century, which allowed the archeological teams to bring these pieces back to Germany, resulting in the museum itself. The structures were meticulously reconstructed inside the building from the recovered fragments and you get some idea of the size and impression they were meant to make in their original locations.

Babylonian market gate complete with Roman statues

You start off by walking into a huge hall where the Pergamon Altar is located - a partial reconstruction of a temple surrounded by a giant-sized frieze of warlike images and the grand staircase. Then you head to the wing that houses the market gate.

After I got over the OMG factor with these massive constructions, I couldn't help the thought that these should really be back in-situ for the world to see, but then the world wouldn't be ABLE to see them for the most part because they were dug up from places like Iran, Iraq etc and in all likelihood wouldn't have survived the present conflicts.

At least here, in climate-controlled conditions, anyone who can make it to this museum can get a sense of scale and craftsmanship that existed up to thousands of years BCE.

Through the market gate and into the room housing the Ishtar Gate and remnants of the processional walk.

It isn't possible to get the entire beauty of the gate, it's the most rich and vibrant blue and gold/yellow glossy tiles.

This museum is truly awe-inspiring in the scope of the projects undertaken to get these structures not only located and uncovered, but in what must have been mammoth tasks to get the structures back from their dig sites to Berlin - at the turn of the 20th century up to the beginning of WW2.

Had a great time exploring these 2 museums and only wish I had the time and energy to explore the other 2 as well, but there's only so much a body can take, and 7 hours of walking or standing (almost without any rest) is about as much as I can do.

So it was a very tired and foot-sore me that headed back to the underground. On the way I found of all things, and Aussie restaurant called Corroboree. So it had to be done - food there - really nice Chicken Tikka Massala - very Australian and a Merlot from the Riverina.

I really like the public transport systems in the European cities. They make it so easy to find your way around. The maps are easy to read, and it only takes minimal assistance to get a hang of how everything works, from buying tickets to locating the S or the U or whatever system you want to use.

I really should look at how the Melbourne system "works" when I get home.

Tomorrow is another travel day so it's a take-it-quietly night - but I've enjoyed my Berlin days, even though I've only managed to get a taste of the city and its life as a whole. Didn't see one single transvestite by the way, nor did I get accosted by a drug-pushing crim. So maybe the taxi driver had it a bit wrong.

Austria tomorrow (via Munich) and Salzburg where I'm hoping the sun may eventually come out (well I can hope I suppose).