I went to some museums today. There is a small island in the rivers of Berlin called Museum Island because it is full of museums (easy to guess). The main one I went to see was the Pergamon Museum. It is set to close for over 5 years starting the end of this September. Since it is closing soon, the lines to get into it were really long. However, inside the museum are the Gates of Babylon (specifically the Ishtar Gate) and the Pergamon Alter reconstructed from their original pieces. It was pretty cool. The Gates of Babylon were enormous and they were only the small front section because the larger rear sections were partially destroyed and would not have fit inside anything smaller than a stadium. Search the Ishtar Gate for some great photos (aka much better than mine). If you are in Berlin 5 years from now, go see the museums on the island. It is only 6 euro for students and includes a nice audio guide.
I went to the post office in Alexanderplatz to buy some stamps after the museums. This was when I received a call from Matt. He had finished lab for the day and wanted to meet for dinner. We met at the station and went to another famous currywurst restaurant (Curry 36). It was good. I ate 3 currywursts. The curry stand is right by Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (also known as the bombed church). It was bombed during WW II and has not been repaired. It is a weird reminder of everything that has happened in this city.
After a quick photo opportunity at the church we went into Tiergarten. It is the same park we were in on Sunday, just the far opposite side. A path runs next to the Berlin Zoo and we were able to see some animals before it got dark. At nightfall we arrived at a little hidden sanctuary on the edge of a lake called Café am Neuen See (Café on New Lake). We sat by some row boats and had a drink while we listened to some live polka music.
It was starting to get late, so we took a train back to Matt’s apartment. Then we watched an episode of Entourage and went to sleep.
