Day 14 - Our last official tour day in Berlin
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Our last day of our official tour. We stopped at the Jewish Memorial then drove over to Museum Island. We had three museums to choose from, we decided on the Alte Nationalgallerie. We got back to our hotel around 1300. Angela went to the fitness center, John opted for... doing this FB post! We met up our tour group for the last time in the evening for a farewell reception at the hotel followed by dinner at the Käfer Restaurant at the Reichstag. Most everybody on our tour was flying out early tomorrow, but we decided to stay of an extra day! |
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| Holocaust Memorial. Constructed in what was a death strip south of the Brandenburg Gate. Ironically, the memorial was built next to Hitler’s HQ in Berlin; he would have been able to see it out his window perhaps... US Embassy in the background with the flag. | Another view of the Holocaust Memorial. Stones are the same size but of various heights, they are set in a rectangular grid. Once you are in among the stones it is sort of hard to know exactly where you are. Per the architect, this was done on purpose (an apparently orderly system that underneath is actually not so orderly. |
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| Right down the street from the Holocaust Memorial is the site of Hitler’s bunker, we walked over to take a look. Site itself is under a parking lot and is not specifically marked (per our tour guide the German goverment does not want this site to become a pseudo-shrine for neo-Nazis). There is however a historical placard/information sign. | Arriving at Museum Island. We did the Pergamon Museum years ago when we lived in Berlin (it is also under renovation). So the choice really was either the Neues Museum or the Alte Nationalgallerie, we opted for the latter... |
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| Exterior view of the Alte Nationalgallerie... | In the foyer, double statue of Princesses Luise and Friederike of Prussia... |
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| So many neat paintings in the gallery, here “Isle of the Dead” by Böcklin, 1883 | “Chestnut Tree in Blossom” by Renoir |
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| “Children’s Afternoon” by Renoir, 1884 | “In Summer” (aka “The Gypsy”) by Renoir, 1868. Our guide pointed out the women is painted traditionally but the background was painted as impressionistic, a hint where Renoir was going... |
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| “View of Vetheuil-sur-Seine” by Claude Monet, 1880 | “In the Conservatory” (or “Wintergarten”) by Edward Manet |
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| “Water Lilacs” by Manet, 1882ish | “House in Rueil” by Manet |
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| “Moulin de la Galette” by Van Gogh, 1886, before he got to manic... | “Deep in the Forest by Moonlight” by Caspar David Friedrich |
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| The front entrance to the Reichstag. We actually went in around the corner at the (extensive) security checkpoint... | Close-up of some of stone carvings near the front entrance... |
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| Facade is original/restored. Inside is brand new! | Headed up to the restaurant, we got a peek at the spiral staircase inside the glass dome on top of the Reichstag. More on this later. |
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| Our table at the Käfer Restaurant. A little rainy our last evening, good timing!! | Part of our tour group, they look hungry to me... |
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| A little Vorspeise, soup, bread, butter, and some fine wine! | Looks like the main course to me... |
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| ... and maybe some dessert. | View of the Reichstag roof after dark. |
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| Inside the glass Reichstag dome. | From the top of the dome you can look down into the actual Bundestag. Talk about transparent government! |
