Terror and horror

Although the day started less bright (so breakfast inside rather than on the balcony) we ended up with quite a lot of sunshine and only one or two drips of the forecast rain.
Started the day with a panic about my Orkney holiday as Booking.com had cancelled our booking (changed debit card, junk mail folder mix up etc) so I spent some time desperately searching for ways to reverse the decision or rebook as we walked down to the city centre but ended up calling S and she managed to sort it thankfully! Also lots of calls to various people about P since he’d emailed me in the night about pain in his feet and legs.
We began by walking down to the Reichstag to book tickets to go there on Friday, and then walked over to the Brandenburg Gate for some photos in the sun. From there to the ‘Topography of Terror’ exhibition…on the site of old SS HQ. There was a long section of the Wall in place with an outdoor exhibition on that and then a modern information centre displaying loads of information about the Nazis’ rise to and period in power. So many exhibits and individuals’ stories of how everyday lives were affected and ruined. Overwhelming really, but very well done.
From there we went to see another panorama having been impressed by the one Asisi had constructed at the Pergamon. This one was about the city at the time of the wall…but it wasn’t anything like as good as yesterdays. Not 360 degrees, only one street scene really and quite expensive. The film about the artist and his life in Berlin with this wall was interesting, but otherwise not that good. We went past Checkpoint Charlie (low key, but we were passing!) and then felt in need of some sustenance. Dithered about whether to have a late lunch or a snack, and when we realised where we were Laura’s eyes lit up at the thought of a visit to the chocolate shop for a snack! Once again, very delicious hot chocolate and a different cake (cherry one for me, a Mozart one for L).
Fortified, we set off to the Jewish museum. Oh my goodness, what an incredible building Libeskind built. On all but the top floor there were very few exhibits but mainly the looming presence of the spaces and forms of the building (huge voids, sharp corners, sloping floors, darkness) and a discombobulating garden where concrete blocks leant one way and the floor sloped alarmingly in different directions to convey the mixed feelings around emigration and ‘escape’. The blip is of a long dark void full of these iron faces loose on the floor. Walking across them sent loud clanging noises throughout that part of the museum….we’d wondered what on Earth the noise was before we turned the corner to see them.
The top floors then held a vast amount of material in a well displayed section around the history of Jews in Europe and then their persecution. Particularly struck by the fluttering banners listing every law put into effect by the Nazis - mind blowing mix of tiny details of life and wholesale persecution (eg no Jew is allowed to teach a correspondence course or join a choral society, all legal rights to be removed from Jews).
Wrung out once again, we needed the fresh air and walk to a Black Forest speciality restaurant that our hosts had recommended, chatting about our impressions and thoughts of today’s museums. We really needed our beer and glass of wine when we got there!. Delicious schnitzel for me and game sausages for Laura, with mustardy mash/ potato salad. Stuffed, we walked home (another 10 miles today!) and with a cup of peppermint tea headed straight to bed.