Berlin - Day 6

Up and out, and we had some time to kill in the morning before heading to the Reichstag, so we took a look in the Mall of Berlin.

Truth be told, one mall looks pretty much like another these days - though the sofas were a nice touch, as were the flying horses:

Out to Potsdamer Platz, where I loved the razor-sharp edges to these buildings:

Another view of the roof over the Sony Center:

Our destination in sight:

and another view of the Fernsehturm through the Brandenburg Gate:

Through the Gate into Pariser Platz and a quick lunch at Bäcker Wiedemann. Not for the first time I was grateful for the schoolboy German I had retained after 47-odd years, due largely to the excellent teaching of Eileen Budge and George Boardman:

Lunch:

Through airport-style security at the Reichstag, into a lift and out onto the roof area which forms the base of the famous glass dome. The view looking out over the front of the building:

The famous dome:

The living (and controversial) installation by artist Hans Haacke in the central courtyard:

Into the dome itself. The central 'light sculptor' features 360 individually angled mirrors. With relatively few high rise buildings nearby, there is a lot of 'horizontal light' available, and the mirrors act light a lighthouse in reverse, gathering that light and concentrating it down into the chamber below:

A large movable sunshield can be positioned to reduce glare on very sunny days:

and the mirrors can be used to produce some interesting selfies:

There are two walkways winding their way around the dome, with the access to them offset by 180 degrees. One is supposed to be used to walk up to the top, and the other for the walk back down. Unfortunately, since the instructions on the floor had effectively worn away, some people chose the wrong walkways and there were occasional black looks from those in the right being bumped into by those in the wrong.

No such problems here:

Looking down from the top of the dome:

and scanning the horizon:

Of course, the little boy in me is always curious to know 'what are those men doing?':

Resting at the top:

Down to the base of the dome by the correct walkway, down to the ground level by lift, and then out through the familiar front:

A view of the distant Carillon:

A memorial to the 96 members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic, killed by the Nazis; their individual names are etched into the edges of the metal sheets that make up the memorial:

Across the road, and sitting down for a rest on a bench along one of the paths that criss-cross the Tiergarten.

Organisers of yet another shell game on their way in search of richer pickings:

We saw far more sparrows in Berlin than we do at home these days, and most seemed quite tame:

More walking, and a return visit to the Gemäldegalerie - thankfully open this time.

Although photography was allowed in the galleries, by now were were starting to feel the strain of six days sightseeing, and we spent the best part of two hours actually looking at Old Masters rather than taking photos of them. Until, that is, Amanda peered closely at this Canalleto and in a stage whisper, asked which building was the one in which James Bond had the punch up...

I sensed that it was time to leave. A few last photos from the plaza in front of the gallery:

and we walked to Friedrichstrasse and then caught the U-bahn a couple of stops, reappearing at street level right outside Peter Pane, to which we happily paid a return visit on this, our last night.

My order remained the same as on the first visit, while Amanda decided to be healthy and swap her bacon for avocado.

Sated, we headed out onto Friedrichstrasse for the last time, sauntering along up to Dussman for a final visit and then back to the hotel.

Bags were packed and travel plans were discussed, and then it was time for bed.