I love Berlin.  I do hope to return soon and visit for a longer period of time so as to really get to know the city better.  One of the days we spent here was devoted to visiting the Museum Mile and the very famous Pergammon.

I must say, the Pergammon did not fail to impress.  Right from the get go, we were speechless by the permanent exhibits.  "Who wouldn't be anyway?" I wonder.  We purchased the pass called the SchauLust Museum Berlin Ticket that allowed entry to all state-owned museums in the city for three consecutive days.  Although we really used it for only one full day we made up for the cost very quickly by going to three museums in the span of five hours.  It was so easy to do.  The three museums we visited were all located close to each other.

Waiting in line to purchase tickets to go inside the Pergammon Museum

Marc in front of the Pergammon

The tall and imposing columns of the Pergammon Museum Building

I assume these marks and holes on the columms were caused by the Allied bombing during the Second World War.

Upon entry to the permanent exhibit sections of the Pergammon, one sees the Pergammon Altar, a magnificent masterpiece of Hellenistic art of the 2nd century BC.

Inside the Pergammon, in front of the Pergammon Altar

The view from the top of the Pergammon Altar

Marc in front of the Gate of Ishtar

The sanctuary of Athena at Pergammon

The head of Athena in the Velletri type on a modern bust

To be honest, after viewing so many exhibits and collections one after the other all in one day, I could no longer say which museums the pictures came from.  I believe the following came from the Altes Museum given that they all looked European.

A view of the Berlin Cathedral from the second floor of the Altes Museum

This is what you see upon entering and leaving the Altes Museum

The Neues Museum was the other museum we truly wanted to visit the reason being the bust of Queen Nefertiti was in it.  Marc and I had seen the Egyptian Exhibition at the De Young in San Francisco a couple of years back and seeing the bust was sort of a continuation of what was not included in the exhibit back home.

We finally saw the bust of Queen Nefertiti.  Unfortunately, it was the one and only exhibit in the museum which was not permitted to be photographed.  One teenager dared take a shot despite the written warnings all over the room.  He was sternly and loudly reprimanded.  I had to buy a postcard of the bust to remind me of the image.  It is in one of my ever growing collection of albums now tucked away in my bedroom closet.