Alright, latest confession. When Marthese said she’d booked us accommodation near Museum Island, in my head I had pictured a more “Australian” island, like Cockatoo Island or even Tasmania, separated by a large body of water and being fairly large. Berlin’s Museum Island is not so inaccessible, sitting nicely in the middle of the Spree River with small bridges connecting it to land, and the surface area is almost entirely covered by smick 19th century buildings. It’s not what I expected, but very sweet nonetheless.
A Museum Island ticket allows you entry to all the museums on a single day, and since this is our last full day in Berlin we decided to make the most of it. We popped into the Bode Museum, a spacious and pleasant collection of sculptures from all over Europe plus some great Byzantine pieces from early Constantinople.
Next up was the Neues Museum, featuring one of the most impressive Ancient Egyptian plunders I’ve ever seen displayed outside of Egypt! Most impressive was the bust of Nefertiti (no photos allowed sadly) but the museum is definitely worth a visit for any Egypt enthusiasts in the area.
Lunch break at one our favourite places (Gambrinus trifft Bacchus) was followed by the busy but remarkable Pergamon Museum. The great Islamic collection upstairs is a treat, but there are three significant jaw-drops to be had on the ground floor. The first, as you enter, is the enormous Ishtar Gate standing there as if ripped from Ancient Babylon days ago. On the other side is the equally humongous 2nd century Roman Market Gate of Miletus. It was rescued from ruin in Turkey and reconstructed in a room in this museum. If that wasn’t enough, stroll into the next room and suddenly you’re in Ancient Greece. The huge Pergamon Altar dates back to the 2nd Century BC, also from modern Turkey, and is a breathtaking glimpse at Ancient Construction, rebuilt in the middle of Berlin. The whole thing is surreal. There is also a huge palace façade nicked from 8th century Jordan upstairs. These Germans know how to steal some big monuments and house em! (To their credit, these were all remarkable findings that were likely to be incinerated by locals salvaging limestone and useful minerals from the ancient ruins had there not been German or British intervention.)
Ishtar Gate – need wider lens
Is this real?
Market Gate of Miletus
Pergamon Altar. Yup.
It was a treat in particular to take in stories of Ancient Babylon and the cultures of Asia Minor, with truckloads of great art and artefacts to admire and an excellent audio guide to fill us in. Combined with the Islamic Art upstairs, this was a refreshing museum to discover in Europe.
Asia Minor artefacts had me struggling to recall my year 9 Ancient History lessons. Rooms of this stuff – so good!
Massive miracles of ancient construction preceded this, but Marthese only got excited for a photo in front of Middle Eastern rugs. (In truth, she just really likes the colour red.)
Last stop was the Alte Nationalgalerie where we breezed through some German artworks from the 17th & 18th centuries, before realising this was our fourth museum of the day and we should get dinner.
“Now THIS is art!”
A few drinks, at dinner, and in our gorgeous private garden, was the perfect way to finish off our honeymoon. Our flight tomorrow is late so we might explore a little more Berlin before the dreadful transit, but this will likely be my last blog about it all. We’re both pretty sad this is nearly over. It’s been amazing.
Dinner. Berliner Wiesse is the drink – local speciality. Comes in green or red. Fairly sure it’s a girl’s drink.
A beer in our own private garden. We’ll miss you, Berlin.
Elias Rambles 