Berlin Day 4 and 5

Combining two days into one here 'cause the first of the two days was me on a sightseeing bus tour of the city, and I didn't take many photos.

The second day I went on a bit of a museum bender - this is quite easy in Berlin, as they've got a bunch of museums in close proximity to each other on an island they call (unsurprisingly) 'museum island'. I bought a three-day pass (though I'd only be using it on two days it was still worth it) and on this day went to the Pergamon, the Neues Museum and the Alte Nationalgalerie.

The view of buildings as I waited for my bus to arrive.

On the bus. It appears they have canals and locks in Berlin.

The always looming tv tower.

If memory serves me, this is in former East Berlin. The mural is pro-teacher, apparently.

Some wall.

The 'Red Town Hall' - or, as they call it, Rotes Rathaus.*

I saw this a couple of times; they're promoting the new metro line (U5) they're either putting in or upgrading. I can understand why the family is there, but the giant cartoon eagle?

So, tired of dining out, I went to a grocery store to buy stuff to eat back at the apartment. As I've heard other people say, one of the best ways to learn about a country is to shop where they shop.

Peas and corn come combined in jars here.

Wasn't expecting this slice of Australiana on the shelves.

I bought an arty tote bag from the shop. One of the ones I have at home is wearing out, so this seemed like a good time to get a replacement - bonus souvenir!

Day 5 - on my way to Museum Island.

It was not a very nice day - exactly why I opted to spend it inside.

This is the Berlin Cathedral. You will many pictures of it as I had to go past it a number of times during my visit. Sadly, I did not go inside; apparently it has a magnificent pipe organ.

Inside the Pergamon.

Some of the Ishtar Gate. There's more later on.

A fragment of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

They have a section on Islamic art.

Onto the Neues Museum. It has a big Egyptian section.

Love some crocodile.

And scarab beetle.

I can't remember why torso here was worth photographing - though I do like saying 'torso', so it could be that.

This gallery has the famous Nefertiti bust - but you can't take pictures. Here's what it looks like:

It's quite mesmerising in person.

There are some more busts of her, with her husband Akhenaten.

And other random bits and pieces.

A bunch of sarcophagi.

They've got a section for European history as well, i.e. local stuff they've dug up.

I took a break before the third museum.

Now inside the Alte Nationalgalerie.

Psyche. Apparently she's always shown with butterfly wings.

Psyche again.

Goethe.

Was a tad surprised to find a Constable here, though I probably shouldn't have been; why wouldn't they have one? Anyway, it's called "The Grove, or the Admiral's House in Hampstead".

'Don Quixote and Sancho Panza', by Honoré Daumier.

One from Corot.

Hähnel's sculpture of Raphael.

I just like this guy's expression. And his beard.

Not entirely sure what I saw in this one.

This is by the same guy, Adolph Menzel. I guess he was desperate for something to paint.

A cool owl sculpture. I also learned that a) this is, specifically, an eagle owl; and b) the German word for eagle owl is 'uhu'.

This is called 'Witch'.

Arnold Böcklin, 'Self-Portrait with Death Playing the Fiddle'. Downside to reading about this guy: finding out that Hitler liked his stuff.

Another Böcklin, 'Isle of the Dead'.

An early Monet, 'Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois in Paris'.

And a Renoir, 'Chestnut Tree in Blossom'.

Quite a lot of stuff here (including most of the sculptures I posted pictures of upthread) is by one guy, Johann Gottfried Schadow, including the below - a tombstone done as a private commission. But he also did the chariot that sits atop the Brandenburg Gate.

"No, I'm not going to play 'Wonderwall'. Go next door and ask the guy with the harpsichord; he'll do it."

"I said maybe (said maybe), you're gonna be the one that saves me (that saves me)..."

I really liked this one.  'The Abbey in the Oakwood', by Caspar David Friedrich - he's shown up quite a few times in museums around Germany.

Never heard of this guy, August Kopisch, before. But this is an interesting piece - 'The Pontine Marshes at Sunset'.

Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Couldn't drink as much as David Hume, if Monty Python are to be believed.

Some very creepy German children.

Out of the museum and back to the apartment.

And that was about it for the day. I think I stopped off at the Rewe again and got some cold meat and bread and had that for dinner. With a beer.

*I can't help but find it funny that the Germans have buildings pronounced 'rat-house' in every town.