Day 13 - Berlin — Wayfaring Abroad

Today was hot, 85 degrees and felt like more in the heat.

We did not get to bed until between 2:30 and 3 which put us in a bit of a hole in terms of recharging our batteries. We got up at 9 and slowly got out the door. Our first stop was a brisk walk from our apartment down to Museum Island.

Schlossbrücke Bridge and Berlin Cathedral.

Museum Island is exactly what it sounds like, an island in the middle of Berlin, surrounded by canals, that has a lot of the museums on it. We walked across the island until we reached the middle point and were immediately hit by the massive structure under construction directly in the middle of the island.

We were forced off the island in order to walk around the construction and back onto the island so that we could see the Berlin Cathedral and the Lustgarten directly in front of the Cathedral. Lusgarten is a collection of lawns and a large fountain in the middle. Right next to the Cathedral is Altes Museum and right behind that is the Alte Nationalgalerie. Unfortunately, we were unable to go up the front steps at the front of the Nationalgalerie to get a view of the Cathedral from an elevated position.

As can be imagined on an island of museums there was another museum right next door and another behind. Behind the Nationalgalerie is the Pergamonmuseum which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Berlin Cathedral was had scaffolding just below the dome and the Pergamonmuseum was under construction, but open. Along the outside edges of the island there was more construction, but also on the outside of the island was a small art market.

Massive amounts of construction on Museumisland.

We wandered through the market and spotted some pretty nice drawings, screen prints and trinkets. After doubling back through the market we wandered on the outside of the island in order to get to the front of the island near Bode Museum. The road continuing up from the art market was a continuation of the previous market with books on sale, records, cds, posters, electronics and all other kinds of trinkets.

After making up to the front of the island and taking in the beautiful architecture we made our way towards the downtown area to get some lunch and then head onward to Pariser Platz and Brandenburg Gate.

After having only seen the gate through pictures it was pretty remarkable to see it in person. I think everyone else felt that as well as the square was completely covered in people. Everyone was taking photos, selfies and sitting around the edges talking.

From Brandenburg Gate we walked the brief block down to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

The different sizes of columns is a remarkable way to evoke the mass numbers of people murdered. It was incredible to walk through the columns and to see all the differences in sizes. It is a simple design but a powerful one.

After spending some time at the memorial we walked down to Potsdamer Platz. This is a big square in the middle of the city with busineses and cafes lining the streets. We stopped off to grab a smoothie and to stop into the Ritz-Carleton.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

After deciding that we would do the Tiergarten another day due to its size we made our way to the underground to hop trains until we got to Charlottenburg Palace and its gardens.

At this point we were all dragging a bit having woken up early and gotten to bed late, not to mention all the walking, traveling and moving we have done over the length of this trip.

A piece of the Berlin Wall in Potsdamer Platz.

The underground ride gave us a slight reprieve from walking an slightly recharged our batteries so we made the short walk to Charlottenburg Palace in no time.

As has become a little bit of a theme in Berlin so far, Charlottenberg Palace was under restoration. The front of the building had scaffolding up and large swatches of space marked off for equipment. Due to our slowly fading throughout the day we decided to skip the inside rooms and to go to the back gardens. While the restoration took a little away from the beauty of the palace it didn't affect the beauty of the grounds. There were large patches of grass, manicured grass and tall hedges. In the middle of the grounds is a large pond with lily pads. There were people sitting around the pond enjoying the view and taking in the sun.

The view of Charlottenburg Palace was the best by the pond. With sprawling grass and hedges to the side framing the long palace in the distance. The pond was still and reflecting the clouds in the sky, the trees along the edges and the spire on the dome of the palace.

Looking across the gardens of Charlottenberg Palace.

We were all beat and decided the only cure was a cold beer so we headed to the S-Bahn and grabbed a train. We were headed to Prater Biergarten, the oldest biergarten in the city. We got there and found most of the shaded tables taken but were able to grab one when a family left.

The biergarten is in the back of the theater and has a large bike parking lot and appears to be in a location that was formerly a swimming pool. There are masses of yellow picnic tables and trees providing cover. You can order beer form two windows and food from another set of windows. We just got some beers and sat in the shade talking and enjoying some relaxation.

After a little over an hour we decided that what we really needed was to sit back for a bit and get our bearings before dinner so we headed back to the apartment.

The sign at the entrance to Prater Biergarten.

With a good amount of relaxation we had a plan for dinner and set out to check out Boxhagener Platz. This is square in a younger part of town with bars and restaurants surrounding the square. We wandered around the streets for a while checking out all the different establishments and then headed down towards Oberbaum Bridge.

We didn't stop to get anything at Boxhagener because we were looking for something quicker and less sit down, but we decided we would be back the next day for dinner. The walk to Oberbaum Bridge was long but along the way we came across a bridge overlooking the train tracks. The highlight was the sunset off in the distance with the Berliner tower just to the left of the setting sun.

As we came up on the bridge we found around 20-30 people sitting on the end drinking, chatting and just walking the sun set. We sat down and joined in. The sun had already gotten just to the horizon as we were sitting so instead of getting to see its movement to the horizon we instead just watched the changing colorsand enjoyed the calm. Eventually we got up and continued on towards the bridge.

Sunset over Berlin from Modersohnstraße Bridge.

We never did make it to the bridge by foot, we got a bit too tired knowing we had a mile and half after the bridge to get to our dinner destination. Instead of crossing the bridge by foot we got to the S-Bahn and grabbed a train the 4 stops to get our dinner.

After grabbing dinner and looping back to the apartment we all settled down, ready for more of what Berlin has to offer.

Distance walked: 14.5 miles