Still, we wrapped up sensibly and headed back to the Topography of Terror, thinking that this would be a good time to be inside, visiting the Documentation Centre.
Given the weather, there were fewer people visiting the outdoor exhibit:
The atmosphere inside was quiet and respectful, befitting a place with such a horrific past. Time flew by, and then we rewarded ourselves with some excellent rolls and drinks:
while continuing to watch the rain fall in the inner court-yard:
Out, and next door to Martin Gropius Bau to see the Lucien Freud exhibition. For the first time in the city of his birth, more than 50 of his etchings, one watercolour and two paintings were on loan from the UBS Art Collection. I can't say that I'm an enormous fan, but Amanda is, and the time was well-spent and enjoyable.
More walking in the rain, and across Potsdamer Platz, where this picture of Amanda standing under an enormous giraffe made of Lego was taken mainly for the later entertainment of little friends LBD, LLA and LMT:
Into the Sony Center to admire the structure
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A composite panorama gives some feel of the scale:
Shifty-looking tourist:
Outside it was easy to see the cables which provide much of the structural integrity to the roof:
and their anchor-points in the ground:
Passing out of the Sony Center we passed Vapiano, scene of last night's less-than-relaxing-but-still-enoyable supper:
Sections of the wall remain standing at Potsdamer Platz, interspersed with information boards:
Along Eberstrasse, and past the Ottobock Science Center:
We continued on until we reached the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe:
I wasn't entirely sure what to make of the memorial. Of course, it's impressive, and its scale and sombre air is in keeping with what it commemorates. For me, though, the tiny 4" Stolpersteine that we had seen the day before had a much more profoundly moving effect.
Continuing along Eberstrasse we passed the US Embassy:
which even has it's own Buddy Bear:
Slightly further on, and this photo-montage shows the scene on one side of the Brandenburg Gate (and also explains why it is so difficult to get a decent shot of that side without becoming one of the annual accident statistics):
A fleet of at least five police vehicles were in a hurry to get somewhere:
Brandenburg Gate from the other side:
complete with dodgy-looking tourist again:
The quadriga above the gate:
On through Pariser Platz:
along a short section of Unter den Linden and right onto Wilhelmstrasse, home to the British Embassy:
I was able to stand in the middle of the road to get this photo quite safely; the stretch of Wilhelmstrasse that runs past the Embassy is blocked to traffic by retractable bollards, as seen here.
For almost as long as these measures have been in place, nearly 90% of Berliners have been in favour of restoring the right of way, but for now there seems little prospect of that happening.
Further along Wilhelmstrasse we stopped for a (very) late lunch. Alt-Berliner Wirtshaus was one of the places that I had identified back in the UK as possibly worth a visit - and so it proved:
Schweineschnitzel for your correspondent:
while Amanda ploughed her way through the Zilles Gegrilltes and seemed to enjoy it:
Replete and exhausted we made our way slowly back to the apartment, stopping off at the supermarket to buy bread rolls, cheese, ham, apple pastries etc for a picnic supper and Sunday breakfast.
Later in the evening another first: we watched Game of Thrones for the first (and, in my case, last) time ever. This was followed by the film x + y, which I quite enjoyed, but which Amanda dismissed at the end with the words "Is that IT??!!??".
To bed.
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