Today was forecasted to be a grey and wet day in Berlin. This meant that it was a 'museum' day.
Paul wanted to visit the German Historical museum.
Rather than trudge through the rain we decided to figure out the Berlin transit system. We have unlimited transit use included with our Berlin Welcome Card so it was a cheap option.
We managed to make it there without incident. The entrance fee was 25 % off with the Welcome Card. We figured we'd get audio guides as well although in the end we probably would have been fine without them as there was excellent signage in English.
The museum was mammoth. From the Neanderthals to the Nazis and beyond, the entire saga of German history is presented in this museum housed in the old Zeughaus (Armory). Like many German museums, this one is exhaustive and can be exhausting because it attempts to cover 2,000 years of German history in pictures and documents. The rooms are set up chronologically, finishing with the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification.
It is a lot to take in.
Some have been critical of the limited coverage of the WW II era. Personally I thought this criticism was nonsense. The museum devoted plenty of time to the conditions after WW I that set the stage for the rise of Nazism, the tools the Nazis used to come to power, the German activities during the war (including a HUGE 3D sculpture of what crematorium # 2 at Auschwitz looked like in full operation). There are plenty of other museums which devote their entire collection to this era, the German Historical Museum, actually featured more than I would have expected given its 2000 year mandate.
After we left the museum we decided to grab some lunch. We stopped at a cozy pub by the Gendarmenmarkt where Paul finally tried currywurst and I had a bowl of goulash soup.
Our next stop was the Ritter Sport store where we likely bought more chocolate to bring home than we actually needed. OK, not likely, we DID buy way too much chocolate. In our defense, it is both delicious and cheap - who are we to ignore the pull?
Bags in hand, we retraced our steps back to the apartment for a bit of a rest.
Later we explored the neighbourhood a bit - it is a wonderful area full of families living their lives forgetting that 25 years ago it was divided by a wall. There are plenty of pubs and cafes. We even found two schools. This is why we prefer rentals and slow travel - you get a glimpse into the everyday lives of the people who call the place home.
We picked up some soup figuring it would be the perfect thing for our colds. Unfortunately, when we got back to the apartment we realized we were without a can opener. I briefly tried to convince Paul to go to the neighbours and ask if they had a can opener however he was cranky and my cold has sapped me of the energy with which I might normally make a convincing argument so I gave up and made sandwiches.
A double Polish version of NeoCitron (Colgrip) ensured that I had a good night sleep.
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