Above: rock crystal ewer at the Perghamon. Bob says it is made of polished transparent quartz. iIt really sparkled and shined brightly!
Above: Bob regards the processional road leading to the Ishtar Gate lined with glazed tile panels showing lions that protect the city and demonstrate its power.
Another great day. We spent quite a while in the Pergamon Museum viewing the Pergamon Altar (constructed in about 100 BC in present day Turkey by the Greeks); it had the gorgeous Greek statues carved in marble and also large friezes. The Ishtar Gate into Babylon was beautiful to see--bright glazed colors. And the richly decorated interior of a Christian trader in Aleppo (a port now in Syria). Strange to say that we were looking at Greek, Roman and Syrian artifacts in Germany. Also saw much Islamic art there too.
Then we revisted a few sites that we saw yesterday and returned "home" about 5, but not before stopping at a neighborhood place for one of Berlin's brews.
Tomorrow we take the high-speed ICE train to Munich. It's a journey of 6 hours (exactly 5 hours and 56 minutes because we're in Germany!) I am using our little netbook in the hotel lobby because of the Y Z problem. While doing this, the fire alarm went off and we had the firemen, police and ambulance to rescue us; it was a false alarm. Still haven't found a way to send pictures.
Woo hoo! What a good time that you are having so far! Enjoy your SKI (spending kids' inheritance) vacation.
ReplyDeleteNever thought I'd hear about you participating in a triathlon and marathon. It probably felt that way. Speaking of triathlons, the ACE bunch had their triathlon today in the middle of nowhere Colorado and did fantastic. They worked hard, kept going, had good attitudes and finished the race. They each have medals to show for it.
We also had a successful first week of school. Tomorrow we are all sleeping in past 6:30.
Have fun and enjoy skiing! Keep blogging too and thanks for the map.