Treasures of the ancient worlds

Atles Museum where Hitler did his speeches from

Bullet holes everwhere

One of the art galleries

First museum, Permagonn

Ishtar Gate from Babylon

Market gate from Miletus

A new friend

Inside the Bode Museum

Beautiful, the Apse mosaic

They like horse statues

Meals are massive, schnitzel tonight, tastes
exactly the same as Mum's

I have been waiting a long time for this day and it has finally arrived. Berlin has 5 museums all packed together on an island right next to base camp. Jane and I have a plan we are splitting up for the day and will meet at lunch.

My first choice is the Pergammon, most impressive is the Ishtar Gate from Babylon. Its blue and massive, but how did it get here? I don’t really even know where Babylon is, the excellent audio guide comes to the rescue. Its in current day Iraq and the gate was buried under rubble and sand dunes for centuries. At the turn of the 19^th century, Robert Koldewey found some blue glazed tiles and then the state mounted a major excavation that took 200 people 9 months to do. All packed up in crates, WW1 delayed the crates getting to Berlin. When the crates eventually arrived it was a big jigsaw puzzle to construct, with tiles of the same blue tone being put together to finally create the magnificent site right before my eyes. After a few days in Germany, so far I have learnt no matter how hard a job is the Germans will get it done.

Koldeway was in the excellent book on The Great Archeologists that Amanda and Jackie gave me for my last birthday. Today I get to actually experience most of the treasures brought back by the German archeologists I have read about from the far flung lands they travelled to.

Now I am going to move on the Neus museum, that has Egyptian and ancient world collections. The pride of the collection is the bust of Nefertiti, which is impressive she even has real eyelashes that you can see up close. However my favorite piece is the Golden Hat, from about 1000BC it is made of 460grams of gold. Who knows how it made it through a few thousands years without being stolen and melted down. But what I really like is the code on the hat proved that this civilization knew how to calculate eclipses 500 years earlier than had been recorded in history.

Jane and I keep bumping into each other which works out well as it is time for lunch. Sustenance is needed to keep going.

Back on the museum trail, my next one is Altes Museum as I bound up the steps I remember this is where Hitler did a lot of his speeches from. Time team eat your heart out, the treasures that the German archeologists have uncovered in here are breathtaking. The items are well lit with perfect backgrounds to show them off and there is no people. What a dream museum.

The whole of museum island is one big construction site, they are linking all the museums together. So now I trek down around the cranes to the Bode museum. Its like a palace inside and the architecture alone is worth it. I am flagging now but just when you think you are too tired to go on a glimpse of a treasure appears through the next door way and I am off.

There is one to go, can I fit it in? I find Jane who is getting a suntan on the benches and she says it is worth it, so I stand in my first line for the day at a museum entry. I have been lucky so far and wait 10 minutes or so. In here I fall in love with German romantics. Yes, it was worth the extra effort.

Now my head is spinning with so much input however overall today I am happier than a pig in mud with audio guide and new ‘things’ to see!