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Monday, October 24, 2011

Berlin Diary ~ Day 5

It's our fifth full day in Berlin and today we head off to the Mitte district.  It is home to Museuminsel, or Museum Island as we would say in English.  Not only is this district home to 4 fantastic museums, but it is also home to the Brandenburg Gate,


the Reichstag, seat of parliament


Berliner Dom (known as the Protestant St. Peter's) and

Humboldt University.  Many notable people taught at Humboldt, including Albert Einstein.
We had to make a choice as to which museums we would tour as it's difficult to take in much more in one afternoon.  So, we started out at the Alte National Gallery.  Here we learned of many notable German artists from the mid-late 19th century.
Alte National Gallery

"Prometheus" - Eduard Muller

"Mercury and Psyche" - Reinhold Begas

"On the Sofa" - Wilhelm Trubner

"Still life with Partridges and Cheese" - Carl Schuch
"Summer 1872" - Hans Thoma
There were so many more works of art, equally as beautiful as these...but we still had another museum to tour.  It was onward to the Neues Museum, home of the fabulous Nefertiti exhibit.
Neues Museum
King Amenemhet III

Queen Nefertiti and mother


the tombs
Impressive, to say the very least, we three came away from these museums so much richer for having the experience.  So much walking and thinking made us quite hungry and thirsty, so it was off to Augustiner, an authentic Munich restaurant in the heart of Berlin!
"B" is for Berlin!

potato dumplings, bread dumplings, roast pork, ham, sauerkraut, and assorted grilled wursts
an authentic Munich meal

the bell rang out and a new keg was tapped!
Fantastic meal for the day and now it was time to walk this off, so we headed over to Checkpoint Charlie and more incredible Berlin history.

two beautiful girls at the beautiful Spree River, which surrounds Museum Island


the beginnings...

President John F. Kennedy visits Berlin

a chilling reminder
Checkpoint Charlie

the last Soviet flag to fly in East Germany
Thank you so much for taking the time to visit and re-live our fantastic journey with me.  I hope you've enjoyed these pictures as much as I've enjoyed sharing them.  It never ceases to amaze me what trials and  tragedies the German people endured in their history.  Yet, they are a beautiful people with an undeniable pride of homeland and self.

Have a beautiful week, and take only "treats," not "tricks!"
xoxo
Karen

1 comment:

~*~Patty S said...

WOW Karen...so much to enjoy
thank you for sharing some of your fabulous trip

I am a Munchner Kindl (born in Munich as was my Mutti) ... the potato dumplings and sauerkraut are REALLY calling me :)

Looks like you had great weather too!
Do any of your girls speak any German?
oxo