Breakfast. A bad one can make you want to hit a child. Luckily for us, the feast before us is not bad, but is the same cornucopia of eggs, fruit, yogurt, sausage, fresh croissants, cereal, and fresh coffee that we have been enjoying for the last three mornings. However, this morning is different in that we know that we might not get another as good for quite some time. Thus, we savor food like we have never savored food before. Ninety minutes later, we head back up to the room, satisfied and prepared to check out.
Our train heads out at 22:15 (or 10:15 in the rest of the world), so we have plenty of time to spend in museums. First up is the "Topography of Terror" exhibit which has been set up a few hundred meters from Checkpoint Charlie. This exhibit catalogues how the dictators from 1933 to the end of the Cold War came to power, and their use of propaganda and iron law when governing. It takes us about two hours before we finally give up the ghost. Even though there is more to see, I think that there is only so much that the sane human mind can absorb regarding malicious, murderous ruling tactics before shutting down.
After this, we decided not to go to the "German National Memorial for the Murdered Jews of WWII," just because I think that our souls might have withered away from the intake of so much horror. We have heard enough stories from those who have been inside to know that tears are a given when walking through. Simply put, the job of this memorial is to make you remember that these were real people that had their lives taken. To do that, you see love letters, drawings from children, and whole life stories right alongside how these individuals died (no punches are pulled) and chilling statistics. We decide that the top of the memorial (see yesterday) is enough for us for this trip.
Instead, we head to the Pergamom Museum on Museum Island. Inside, they have a partially rebuilt replica of the Pergamom Altar, the entire two story entrance to the city of............., and the partially rebuilt Gates of Ishtar from the city of Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar. The setup and explanations aren't quite as good as some of the other museums that we have been in, but the shear size of the replicas is a site to behold. After we have been there for a while, we learn that even these replicas (which are staggering to behold) are less than half of the size of the originals (except for the gate). We had a mindblowing experience in spite of this, because for some reason we like the constant reminders that we are so small in this world.
By the time we are kicked out of here and hunt down water, we discover that most of the museums are closing for the day. Bummer. So instead we hunt around until we find a bar that is playing the game. Oh, by the way, we have become futbol fans just from being over here; the EuroCup is going on right now, and the atmosphere is contagious. I would compare it to March madness, but I don't think that you would grasp just how little work gets done during this tourney. Anyway, we catch a game since all of the museums are lame, then we head to our train...(yeah, I can't finish the line, sorry). Tomorrow we have 12 hours in Zurich. Let's go chocolate.
Drew and Nicole
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