I got back to the hotel at 6pm, my legs were killing me. I was so tired after not visiting many places, I’m so old.
I had a good night’s sleep after a tiring day yesterday, and the advantage of a loose schedule was that I could stay in bed and dawdle until 8pm. When I went outside, I felt that the alleyways were empty and windy, and I still felt cold with my hat on. I was expecting the shops and restaurants to be open late on a Sunday, but it was a surprise that the Starbucks didn’t open until 9am, so I went into McDonald’s, which I hadn’t visited for years, and had an egg cheess burger and a cup of tea. I went straight to the big “U”, Berlin’s underground station. I didn’t have enough change to buy a ticket from the vending machine, so I was unsuccessful. I went back to the Starbucks I had just passed to get some change and a coffee to warm up. I got out of the underground station of the same name at Kurzstrasse and got on the U6 to U2 to Potsdamer plaza. I went to the music/movie museum next door and entered a covered shopping mall through the back door, but as this was not my destination, I took a few photos and left. From here, we walked towards the Brandenburg Gate and saw bits and pieces of the Berlin Wall everywhere: a scattering of Berlin walls, some guides giving tours, and some explanatory signs. On the way, we passed the memorial to the persecuted Jews, which looked like a coffin cemetery from afar, and was a bit bleak and heavy in the dead of winter.
I was surprised to see the American Embassy next door to the south wing of the Brandenburg Gate, which shows the status of the United States in Berlin. When I was doing my guide, I read the most about this Victory Gate among the many Berlin attractions. Seeing it in the flesh, it was understandably a little disappointing. Tourists really do tend to rush in as well, and trying to take a photo or selfie without a sidekick is impossible, it’s just a gate and doesn’t linger long. Walking east along the bare linden street, it wasn’t long before I saw the Soviet Embassy on the adjacent street, which someone said was sure to have entered ‘East Germany’. Berlin has been changed so much by WWII that its history can be briefly summarised as pre-WWII and post-WWII, and everywhere you go you are reminded of this history (I don’t believe this is the case in Japan?). At least in Kyoto it was only mentioned in the introduction to the Japanese Emperor’s palace when we went to see it). It was ten minutes past noon again and the temperature was still low enough to make you lose a lot of calories. Although I don’t like meat, I still felt the need to go for a burger today to replenish my calories and to prevent them from being consumed quickly, which is important when travelling. I came across a restaurant with a very unusual decor and looked like a lovely price to walk around. A burger, a salad, a glass of apple juice, a German tea and out again holding the wall.
Followed the spree to Museum Island. I went to the Bode museum for the first time, but I didn’t have much experience. I came back with a bunch of sculptures, but I didn’t really like them, they were basically carvings or paintings of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. The first one is the Bode museum, which is not very good, but it’s not very good. From the road from the side of the walk, only to find that the walls of the buildings are full of bullet holes, think back to the alley battles here, really came to Berlin at any time you can recall that period of history.
The Berliner Dom, with its green dome and stone walls and church-like appearance, is the most beautiful building in Berlin, but I had to queue to buy another ticket to go in. Later on, I went online and found out that it was Berlin Cathedral, so it seems that I didn’t go in to see it, and I was really tired of the aesthetics of churches, and I went to St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican & the Basilica of the Flowers in Florence, a majestic interior and exterior, a very unique appearance that has dwarfed other churches.
On the way back, I passed by the Berlin Art Market, and along the linden street, I came across the ‘Monument to the dead of WWII’, a woman praying in a humble room with a patio, and walked to the south side of Federick street for lunch and took the underground back to the hotel. The temperature in Berlin today was several degrees cooler than yesterday, making it more difficult to travel. In the evening I went to a Thai restaurant called Elephant on the other side of the Kuhle and had my favourite Tom Yum Kung soup, and returned to the hotel in the cold. Unfortunately, I still had a tummy bug before bed, but I still slept well.
