We had a slow start to the day not getting going until around 10am. We headed towards the Museum Island and our first stop was the Berlin Cathedral or Berliner Dom. The cathedral was completed in 1905 and is a beautiful building inside with a massive dome making it one of the main landmarks in Berlins cityscape. The cathedral was severely damaged during WWII and is located in East Berlin so only a simple restoration was completed in 1975. A full restoration of the building was completed in 1993, four years after the fall of the Wall. The walk to the top of the Dome includes 267 stairs but the effort was well worth it as the views are sensational.

Our next stop was the German Historical Museum. It describes itself as a place of ‘enlightenment and understanding of the shared history of Germans and Europeans’ and this is a great description. During this trip, and previous ones, it becomes evident how intertwined the history of the respective countries are, but it’s usually revolving around wars and religion, its  just one was after the other as different countries gain the ascendency before someone else does. It was interesting to see the portrayal of Hitler and WWII, the mood and artwork changed significantly to much a darker fearful mood and showed the evil purpose of the Nazis. I now have heaps of information on European history from medieval times to today from the many museums we have visited that I will try to piece together when I get home. It’s was an excellent museum and we enjoyed visiting it.

A wander down the Unter den Linden followed our visit to the museum which is a wide boulevard with many beautiful buildings including the Humboldt University.

Yesterday, we came across a flyer advertising the Ramones Museum which is located near the East Side Gallery. So we had to visit and take some photos that Amy has sent to Tim her brother who is a big fan. I was happy with the punk music they were playing which was a nice change to the Christmas carols and mainstream top 40 type music I have had to listen to in cafes and pubs for much of the trip. The Ramones cafe was a great place to relax and enjoy our RMCM beers.

It’s been a beautiful day and we enjoyed just wandering the streets today. After visiting the Ramones Museum/cafe we wandered around the Kreuzberg district which is renowned for its street art apparently. We saw some but probably wandered down the wrong streets but we did walk along the Urbenhafen which is a small river running through this district for a while and it was a quiet and relaxing setting. Apart from the construction taking place, another thing we have noticed here is there is construction occurring all over Berlin with many cranes in the sky.

Our next stop was the Kufersteddamm which is just down the road from where we are staying. We found some more Christmas markets located around the Kaiser Eilhelm Memorial Church which is known as Gedachtniskirche, it was badly damaged by a bombing raid in 1943 but has not been rebuilt as a reminder of the war. It is nicknamed by Berliners as ‘der hohle Zahn’ meaning ‘the hollow tooth’. It was a great setting for the market and we enjoyed some currywurst and frites.

It was now 4pm and getting dark so we headed home to put our feet up before heading out for tea. However I did take a walk for about 1/2 hour taking in our neighbourhood and getting a bit more of a feel for this great city.

Tonight we dined at the Gasthaus Krombach again. Whilst I was very tempted to have the Konigsberger Klopse I decided to have the Berliner Teller gegrillter Kasslernachen, Bulette and Bratwurst with Kale and roasted potatoes, or a mixed grill while Amy had the Sliced Filler of Pork with creamy mushroom sauce with Spatzle. Both meals were awesome although the Konigsberger Klopse last night was the best. We ended the night with a stroll around our neighbourhood.

We have enjoyed Berlin very much but now looking forward to heading back to the Netherlands and Enkhuizen to catch up with Rosemarie and Maikel and the rest of the family.

Guten nacht.