Berlin, Germany

March 16, 2010
Cold, a few flurries

Last night we arrived in Berlin around 8 pm and hopped on the bus to the pension where we are staying. This morning, we had class and then went to the Pergamon museum after grabbing some lunch at a grocery store. At lunch time, I had another one of my incredibly stupid tourist moments where I stood blankly at a deli and asked the lady behind the counter “Sandwich? Sandwich?” several times until a kindly old gentleman holding a single leek took pity on me and said in a more German accent “Sandwich.” Then the deli lady understood and pointed me to a set of premade sandwiches. Anyways, the Pergamon museum was incredibly interesting: all the beautiful treasures and the altar of Zeus that had originally been found at the sites we were in at Turkey were displayed at this museum. Denny told the ticket agent that it was lovely to be here because we were in Bergama just several days ago. The ticket person replied, “Well this is so much better because everything important is here.”
We wanted to go to the Egyptian museum and see all the Egyptians treasures the Germans took, but we arrived five minutes after 4:30, when the last group is admitted and the ticketing agent was absolutely unwilling to bend the rules for us. As much experience as I thought I had with German people, I’ve been kind of intrigued by all the interesting strangers I’ve met. We went back to the hotel, and then I wandered with a few people around Berlin and ending up eating some tasty bratwurst and French fries. I love Berlin, but I don’t feel like journaling very much tonight.