Second Day in Berlin

Posted by Michele September 05, 2022

Second Day in Berlin

After a good night's sleep, we were ready to hit the streets of Berlin. Joe figured out how to get us from our flat to museum island, and it was literally just a hop, skip, and jump! Super easy-peasy. although we might get locked up, because the only ticket booth for the metro that we saw, and tried to use, kept locking up. They do not have turnstiles like in the US and many other European countries, so we just hopped on, and off the metro without a ticket.

It did not take long to get down to Museum Island and the first place that we went was the Berlin Cathedral. Needless to say, it was stunning. It is the largest Protestant church in Germany, and one of the most important tombs in Europe.

This church was built from 1894 to 1905 by the order of German Emperor William II in Renaissance and Baroque Revival styles. We were told that William II wanted it to be bigger, and better than St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, however, he didn't have enough money, so while the altar area and the organ are massive, ornate, and costly, much of the rest of the church was built "more on a budget."

Another interesting tidbit we learned was that the organ, which is typically situated across from the altar, was located on the wall perpendicular to the altar, and William II wanted his "throne" to be across from the altar, and a little higher up.

The pulpit was lovely, and the pipe organ was phenomenal. I thought the church was quite impressive and I loved learning a bit about it.

While were we listening to a twenty-minute talk about the church, Joe was climbing the 267 stairs to the outside, middle section of the dome, where he got some great photos, from a birds-eye view.

After the Berlin Cathedral, we headed over to the Altes Museum, which, by some stroke of luck, was free today! Gotta love hitting tourist attractions on their free days. That way, I do not feel as though I need to scour every inch in order to "get my monies worth!" lol

This museum was built from 1825 to 1830 by King Frederick William III of Prussia. It is considered a major work of German Neoclassical architecture. It currently houses Greek and Roman sculptures and artifacts.

Lots of headless, armless, and penisless sculptures! Some very beautiful sculptures with my favorite being the Empress Faustina the Younger, who bore her husband 13 children. My second favorite was Amor and Psyche, who are winged children embracing each other.

The next museum was the Bode Museum, which was full of churchy-type artifacts, and since we go into so many churches, we did not spend much time. What we saw was beautiful, but I was too tired to do too much exploring.

After leaving that museum, we decided to head back towards the metro. Along the way, we stopped at the Museum Cafe and had a bite to eat. We had Currywurst, sauerkraut, and potatoes, along with an amazing chocolate cake with some sort of raspberry topping, and another delicious coffee!