Berlin: From Classical Greece to Oktoberfest

Berliners are especially proud of Pergamonmuseum, house of the collection of classical antiquities, ancient Near East and museum of Islamic art. We took a plunge this morning and didn't regret it. As soon as we entered, a narrow stairway took us up to an observation point where near-life-size painting of the classical Greek city of Pergamon was wrapped inside the huge cylindrical space. The lights changed to resemble the day and night in Pergamon, while we observed different scenes from the life of the period. Unfortunately, this experience is impossible to photograph, but if you stay tuned, we have a little video which we'll upload when we're back home.

The most famous exhibit is the one that gave the name to the museum - the real entrance to the Pergamon Altar, from aroun 170 BC. By the rules of the time (turn of the 19-20 century) the finder of the archeological objects is entitled to one third of the find. So, when the Germans found the whole Altar building on the ground belonging to modern day Turkey, they took a third of it, and it's proudly exhibited here.

Another famous and equally fascinating exhibit is the Ishtar Gate

from the palace of the king Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, dating from 6th century BC. Considering the sorry state in which the rest of Babylon is being kept in Iraq, one has to be glad at least a part of it is safe in Germany, escaping the annihilation during Saddam Hussein's era and following chaos brought by US occupation. But, let's not wade into those waters.

Lunch time brought us to Corroboree, an Australian restaurant with such menu items as kangaroo and alligator meat. Naturally, I had to try kangaroo steak burrito. What can I say - it tastes gamey, but if you like game meat, it's nice.

There's no better month to be in Germany than October. I know we're nowhere near Munich, but imagine the surprise when we emerged from the subway station on Alexanderplatz and saw - Oktoberfest stands, beer, sausages, sauerkraut and loud polka music. Who could resist?