Volume 2, Day 6
Although I have been a little scared off from museums due to the fairly high ticket prices, I discovered that there is a single through ticket for the 5 museums on “Museum Island” that is less than the price of two of them. Therefore, in order to get my culture fix, it would be worth shelling out the 18 Euros. Since the museums are only open 10-6, I had to make sure I paced myself so that I didn’t run out of time. I intended to get to the first museum right as it opened, but it made more sense to walk a couple blocks to hit a supermarket (finally open after a several day break!) and buy a couple croissants/rolls to fuel the museum spree.
At the Bode Museum, the woman at the ticket counter asked if I had a student ID, and I figured it was worth a try with my old BLCU campus card. It didn’t work, probably because the card was falling apart. Ethics of pretending to still be a student aside, I could really appreciate some discounts on these museums and stuff.
I don’t really want to provide a play-by-play through the museums. Overall, I was pretty blown away both by the artworks in themselves and the palatial architecture housing them. Bode was all about art, while three of the museums: Altes, Neues, and Pergamon, housed archeological antiquities. The fifth museum–Alte Nationalgalerie–was also an art museum. All are worth visiting. They weren’t nearly as crowded as I was worried they would be, but there were plenty of tour groups roaming about. Some of the buildings on the “island,” notably the James Simon gallery are under construction meaning there were plenty of cranes and scaffolding to dodge on the outsides. Similarly, only half of the Pergamon was open with the namesake Pergamon altar not currently accessible to the public. The Gates of Ishtar were still there and awe-some.
I was kind of crashing early afternoon, so after the fourth museum, I decided to go find some coffee or ice cream to give me a boost. I wondered over to the Hackesher Markt area and looked at a couple of gelato places, but balked at the prices. I was about to walk all the way back to the hostel to see if I could “steal” some hot water to make my own coffee, but I spotted a bakery on a side street. I ordered a capuccino and some sweet bread (streudelschnecken). It was cheap and perfect.
Newly energized, I headed back to the island for the fifth and final museum and allowed myself to take my time roaming its galleries.
I can’t believe how hot the insides of all the museums were. I think I only felt air conditioning two times across all the galleries. It was nearly 30 outside (86F), but inside was several degrees warmer (over 90F). By the afternoon, most people were attempting to fan themselves with the museum maps. It didn’t work very well. It’s barely June. How are these museums going to deal increasingly hotter summers? How have these paintings not already melted? I suppose the marbles and bronzes will survive just fine, but it seems reckless not to install some sort of climate control. Tourists are going to start dropping dead of heat exhaustion, especially when no water is allowed inside and there are no water fountains. I was running down to the single restroom in the basement of the museums and drinking water out of the bathroom tap like an animal to stay alive.
I finished the last museum about 4:30 and headed back to the hostel to chill out for a few minutes and get on the internet. There wasn’t anything going on at the hostel, so I decided to head over to the Lidl to finally get my salad on. I made a nice picnic with a loaf of ciabatta bread, a bottle of Riesling, a snack pack of cheese (gouda and bergkase), and a packet of gummi. I found a found a spot on the lawn of Monbijiou park and enjoyed myself.
I headed back to the hostel at about 8pm to shower and attempt to go to bed early, but it was so hot inside the room. I just laid there for hours fanning myself. I don’t think I managed to fall asleep until nearly 1 in the morning.
| Breads | 1.47 |
| Museuminsel | 18 |
| Coffee break | 3.5 |
| Picnic | 8.19 |
| Total: | 31.16 EUR (243 RMB) (USD 35.11) |
Running Total: 4476.5 RMB (USD 645.4)
Daily Average: 746.1 RMB (USD 107.6)