Out and about...

For those of my friends who worry that I have an obsession with military museums, here are some shots mostly literally taken "on the street" of various cities we have stayed in.

There is a separate post of the Pergamon Museum, one of the great cultural institutions of the world.

Last time Paul and I were in Berlin the Pergamon was closed for renovations. So we were a little concerned when we rocked up to find all this work going on. The works being done won't be complete until 2025! But in the meantime, you can still go to the Pergamon, by a side entrance.

Modern Berlin is the capital of Germany, the richest large country in Europe. Berliners are well dressed, well fed and often drive beautiful cars, especially in the area we were staying, which was on the corner of the Kurfurstendam and major cross street. This would be roughly equivalent in Melbourne terms to having a hotel on the corner of Russell and Collins St.

This guy could really play the glass harp.

The Pergamon is more than a century old and represents the work of German archaeologists from the 1870s through to the present day.  Pergamon was a Hellenic city state in modern day west coast of Turkey, near Troy. Its rulers were a particularly enlightened bunch and caused to be built one of the most beautiful collections of ancient art to survive.

The Military History Museum at Dresden used to be a Hohenzollern palace, and now is a Hohenzollern palace with a huge glass and steel shard through the middle of it, which continues out the back. The architecture is sensational, although I was disappointed in the content.

Paul and I are creatures of habit. In Dresden we couldn't wait to visit our favourite restaurant, Poseidon, which is around the corner from our hotel. The food is just fabulous and the maitre'd is a character who speaks a mixture of Greek and German with hilarious results. As Paul said, his only regret is that the restaurant isn't in Australia so he could visit it more.

The architecture at the Dresden Hbf  (main station) is spectacular. The train we were in was actually Czech and appeared to have originated in Prague and was heading for Hamburg. It wasn't an ICE express, but it was still pretty quick on a heavily trafficked line.

Not a very good photo, this crab was in the restaurant near our Moscow hotel, the Maxima Panorama.

I don' know if crabs have memories, but the leap this one made off that rocky outcrop was breathtaking.

This spectacular structure, which looks like a 3 legged spider, was intended to be a restaurant. But someone forget to connect water. Also it wasn't quite clear how the guests were meant to get there. But it looks spectacular!