Like One Direction, I am taking sometime for myself.  First stop: Berlin!

Guten Tag!

Full disclosure, I didn’t really choose Berlin as such. One of my lovely friends from Vancouver was going to be there!  It was thrilling, fun and a little scary to be honest.

When I travel, I’m usually either with someone I know or speak the language. And this time I was meeting Alyssa there after exploring a bit by myself.  I am sure you will all be very surprised that I decided to go to MUSEUM ISLAND (or Museumsinsel). What a shock for you my dear reader.

On my own ( 🎵 with no one here beside me 🎵) I managed to see the Brandenburg Gate, the Tiergarten, The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, some of the Berlin Wall and the Riechstag.

Museum Island was pretty darn sweet though I only went to two (the only ones open on Mondays).

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Pergamonmuseum

At the Pergamon Museum I was able to see the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, which is truly stunning. Took my breath away. I’ve always dreamed of seeing it since reading about it when I was a little girl.

A pleasant surprise for me was finding the Art of Islamic World section on the third floor. I hadn’t read about it in the guidebook or anything! It had a lovely collection and presented the information wonderfully. The dynastic set up was very, very well done.

Rating: 3/5

Pros: Great stuff and well presented

Cons: under construction- only about a third is currently open to the public and work will not be done for at least five years.

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Neues Museum

This Museum was mercifully not under construction at all! It holds the Egyptian and Greek galleries along with ancient articles from Germany and the Wandering Tribes. So it was an interesting mix of items. The name only means ‘new’ and thus doesn’t say much.

 

Germany and German archaeologists were at the forefront of the field from the late 1880s to now.  There is a lot of Egyptologists from Germany.  I was able to see Nefertiti- though of course I was not allowed to take photos of her.

 

 

The museums in Berlin are way less busy than those in England, and even Spain. It could be that since school has started things have died down but I am not sure honestly.

 

This displays are very nice.  I really enjoyed how each one is made especially for the object it is meant to hold.

Rating:4/5

Pros: All around great!

Cons: As with the British Museum, it’s hard to see some these objects that were looted from their homelands.  There is some awareness of it but I would like it to be more obvious.