Gonzaga in Berlin: Exploring Ancient Worlds

Today is one of the few days that we have off of class. In the morning, Dr. Crandall and I visited two museums by taking the bus. We visited the Pergamonmuseum and the Altes Museum on Museum Island.

In the Pergamonmuseum, we saw two exhibitions: Architecture of Antiquity and Ancient Near East. In the Architecture of Antiquity, we saw Roman architecture with the Market Gate of Miletus (pictured). That was a stunning piece of work. The amount of detail, material, and time for a structure so vast was astonishing. We stared at the gate for a while. We also stared at the Ishtar Gate of Babylon (pictured) which we could see walking along the processional way of Babylon, the museum’s way of recreating the walk to the gate. Truly quite incredible.

Next, we walked around the Altes Museum. We saw both exhibitions: Quantity and Quality - The World of Greek Terracottas, and Ancient Worlds - Greeks, Etruscans and Romans. Inside the Altes Museum, there was a rotunda with Roman and Greek statues (pictured). We spent a little while in awe of the sheer size and magnificence of the structure and the statues. Every structure in Berlin has shocked me with the amount of detail, handmade, that was put into the design. There were other statues (pictured) and some pottery (pictured) that was amazing to observe.

For the afternoon, I ran some errands. I went to Rossmann’s (a drug store chain without a pharmacy) for toiletries. Then, Bio Company (an organic grocery store) for some snacks and soups. Going to an organic grocery store in Germany is different than in the United States. The selection is not as vast and I notice that chicken and turkey are not as easy to find in Germany.