Treading the Tourist Paths

Today T., J. and I decided to take a tour of Berlin, guided by particular landmarks. At first we had the idea of splitting up and making the tour into a race. But in the end we decided to simply go together. So we took the bus and the U-Bahn to the main sights of Berlin and took photos of specific places with Gi.'s digital camera, always putting a small owl into the picture (though T. was sometimes worried about looking silly).

Here were our destinations:

* Staatsbibliothek at the Kulturforum
* Sculpture of Fighting Men at Kulturforum
* Statues of three generals of the Napoleonic Wars (Yorck, Blücher, and Gneisenau) beside the Deutsche Staatsoper, Unter den Linden

The statues were unfortunately surrounded by scaffolding for renovation, unlike the time that Joachim and I saw them, but the atmosphere in the small park was most agreeable. A wedding party was doing its photo shoot under the broad plane tree in its centre.

* Monument to Friedrich der Grosse in front of Preussische Staatsbibliothek, Unter den Linden
* Plaque to Max Planck in front of Humboldt University, Unter den Linden
* Berliner Dom
* Rotes Rathaus

The distinctive tower was hidden under white plastic, but we were intrigued by the sculptures in the big fountain in front. It consists of Neptune sitting on a giant shell supported by web-footed mermen entangled in a large net, with four naiads (?) sitting around the margins of the basin and pouring water from amphorae into it, and a turtle and a seal and a crocodile spouting water into the shell.

* Gendarmenmarkt

This square was pleasantly tranquil. I liked the buildings on it, though they are pretty massive. We sat on the steps of the Konzerthaus and took photos, and listened to two musicians play Baroque music at the foot of the building.

* Brandenburger Tor

When we approached the Tor we saw a large semicircle of people in front of it. In the middle of them there were three or four people dressed as Plains Indians, who were dancing and shaking rattles to the sound of a peculiar mixture of pop, highlands and native music. At first I thought it was funny to come across a bit of North America here in Germany, but then I was seriously annoyed at this travesty of Native American culture (also because I found the music so awful). As the annoyance mounted Terese took her time taking photos. The resultant emotions proved what I already knew; that the fiendish sides of my nature come to the fore when cooking or when travelling.

* Reichstag

When we approached the Reichstag we walked right into the fair that is being held in honour of the Tag der Deutschen Einheit (Day of German Unity), which is on October 3rd. Walking along the booths, the fragrance of grilled sausages was highly tempting, but we decided on waffles. Then we were disorientated until we found a bus station on the right side of the road and continued to

* Schloss Bellevue

Conveniently enough, it is located right at the bus stop. We gazed at it and Terese took photos, and a security guard came out of the doorway and gazed at us. Then we walked on to the

* Siegessäule

which very much impressed us. I had expected a pillar perhaps as tall as a tree in the middle of the road. Instead it has an enormous pedestal, with a deck on top where sightseers could stand, and in the large pillar itself there seems to be a winding staircase, by which one can climb to deck at the top, right under the statue of Nike (or an angel?). I also hadn't expected the richly coloured painting along the sheltered portion of the pillar.

But we decided not to approach the Siegessäule any further. There is a path leading into the Tiergarten, where a sign mentions an "Englischer Garten." I was immediately interested, so T. and J. agreed to explore. In the middle of the path there is the monument to Otto von Bismarck. That mighty personage dominates the scene.Below him to his left reclines the Sphinx; in front Atlas strains under the globe; Athena stands on guard to his right; and behind him powerful Hephaistos hammers away at a large but blunt sword. I think this takes hero-worship to a whole new level of ridiculousness.

After passing the monument we found a small enclosed garden, where boxwood and fuschias and white begonias flourished in the middle, under the cheerful gaze of a small bronze boy and his pony. Beyond the garden there is a peculiar modern black building with large office windows. As I told T. and J., it looks like a mausoleum. A policeman plus dog were patrolling outside, and security cameras were positioned at intervals along the tall, spiky black fence that enclosed the grounds. But one part of the grounds was also a grand park, which I very much wanted to enter (even though I was already in a grand park). But we contented ourselves with the roaming-grounds of the hoi polloi, and soon came across a delightful lake.

Then, however, it was already the evening, so we took the bus (or, rather, three buses) back to our apartment. We'll have to see the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, Schloss Charlottenburg, Humboldtschloss, etc., some other time.