Berlin - Day 2

This is the permanent exhibit called 'Topography of Terror' situated right beside the remaining 80 meters of the Berlin Wall.  It is a summarized history of the rise of the Third Reich and I think the purpose was/is to inform the German public itself of a chunk of history that the older generation would have preferred to keep under wraps, to educate the youngest generations of man's capacity for evil and of the fact that, unfortunately, that capacity was realized in their own country, that Germany was and is still capable of 'producing' something like this.  Of course, the exhibit has a message for everyone.  Entrance is free but there's a donation box inside.  As a teacher, and especially a teacher of intercultural skills and values, something like this can't be ignored.  The building at the back, the House of Ministries, was once used by a family of three to escape -- the father was working there and the family went all the way up to the roof and then escaped to the other side of the wall using a cable and improvised wheels.

Today, we all had time to organize our day as we wished.  A large group went with the bus to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in an area called Oranienburg.  I could have joined that, but I thought there was/is enough to see in Berlin itself.  The bus went first to the by now familiar KaDeWe stop to drop off whoever didn't want to come along, and there were only three of us who went down.  Pick-up time was 20.00, which meant that we had 10 full hours to fill in the day as we wished.

First thing I did was buy a ticket for the Hop On Hop Off bus.  There were 21 stops and I got off first at Stop 8 -- the Gendarmenmarkt, but only for some picture-taking (see extra) as the weather was warmer today and the shots taken yesterday weren't that good.  Got back on the bus and the next stop was Stop 13 -- the Berlin Dom, or Berlin Cathedral, + Museum Island.  Berlin Cathedral is actually just over a century old and used to be the private 'chapel' of the Hohenzollern family.  Prussians all, they ruled Germany for centuries, till WW1.  Their crypt is directly below the cathedral and is accessible to the public.  Of course, I had to go down to take a look -- all coffins of kings, queens, princes and princesses, most of which had crowns on top, so all former rulers.

After that, I went to the one museum I specifically wanted to see on this trip -- the Pergamon Museum, named after a tiny area in Turkey that was an ancient Greek city at the time.  The museum boasts a lot of authentic artefacts.  I was completely floored by a real Ishtar gate, a real Roman gate, and real steles with the cuneiform completely readable, for example one connected with the ancient Babylonian ruler, Hammurabi.  That Superpowers of the Ancient World MOOC I took a year ago has finally proven its worth ... haha!  I looked at complete rock engravings from archaeological sites in the Near East, entire walls, and even genuine samples of lamassu (another extra).  In short ... pure heaven!  It took an hour to line up for a ticket, and it was obviously the most popular museum in the area, which didn't surprise me once I got inside.  Altogether, three hours here, and then it was time to get back on the bus.  I had to return to the starting point and then stay on the bus again to get to Stop 6, which is my main shot for today.  As it was the last run of the bus for the day, I knew I would have to take a taxi after I was done, to catch the pick-up at 20.00, but first dinner at the local Vapiano, which was yummy as usual.

Another full day!  But oh ... it was just fabulous!  My camera has been very faithful these past two months and will get a thorough cleaning once the schoolyear starts again.  Back at the hotel, started post-processing but then, thought I'd like to really talk with AW instead of just chat on Messenger, so we shared our day with each other.  It turns out that his day was fab as well -- his son N came by with the grandkids and they went out to the woods and to the city centre and had a grand time!  His granddaughter, almost 6, apparently likes bunkers, tanks, cannon, and more of that kind of thing, and his grandson, almost 4, likes to try out stuff for the sake of trying out stuff, especially of naughty variety ... hahaha!  Maybe next time I'll get to meet them, too.