Lost and found

My goal today was to figure out the city’s S-Bahn, the main component of its above-ground transit system, and I failed. The lines I seek aren’t where I expect them to be, and in some cases, I cannot figure out where the trams stop. The timetables are impenetrable, at least for me, for now. The drill is familiar: By the time you figure out a deceptively easy wrinkle about how a strange city works, it’s time to go home, which is OK, because it gives you an excuse to come back.

For now I’ll stick with the subway (U-Bahn) or in Monday’s case, walk my feet off. Won't you join me? This is my street, below. For being in a city known for its round-the-clock rowdiness, this neighborhood is enveloped in an almost interstellar silence at night. Or maybe my walls are just really well insulated.


We're walking south now and ... whaddya know? It's Konnopke's Imbiss, perhaps the city's most famous currywurst vendor. Currywurst is Berlin's signature snack -- basically a hot dog with curry-infused ketchup. It puts me in mind of the old Reese's Peanut Butter Cup commercial, where a guy carrying a jar of peanut butter and a guy eating chocolate both round a corner and collide, serendipitously mixing the ingredients together. Ketchup + curry: Who knew? Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder once had a currywurst here. And of the city's nearly 200 museums, one is devoted to currywurst.



Hm. Something tells me I won't be staying here anytime soon.


Yeah? Well back atcha, buddy!


I'm lost now, but pleasantly so. This seems to be one of Berlin's most vibrant areas, around Rosenthaler Platz. Lots of bustle, and a good place to do some Christmas shopping.


This comix store was pretty good. I spied Kim Deitch's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" here, as well as "The Basil Wolverton Bible." The $35 price tags helped me resist the impulse. You can get them a lot cheaper back home (hint-hint).


The Hackeshen shopping complex. Lots of swanky stuff.


So I'm funneled by the hand of God onto Museum Island, which was on my to-do list anyway. Slow travel: You get there, just more slowly. This is the Alte Nationalgalerie, and if you'll double-click, an equestrian statue of King Friedrich Wilhelm should be visible. I'm not sure if it's Wilhelm I, II or III, however. Probably Wilhelm I, known as Frederick the Great, who ruled when Berlin was the royal capital of Prussia. But Prussia belonged to the Polish crown. It's confusing. Maybe I should pay a visit and clear this all up. [edit: It's Wilhelm IV. I didn't know they went that high! Museum Island was his baby.]


The Germans love their kinder.


A look south. The Berliner Dom bathed in precious December sunlight.

Uh-oh, a line at the Neue Museum of somewhat contemporary art. You know, where they show the neuer stuff. I'm outta here.


A lion screams his head off while a man bites his neck. I feel like I'm back at the comics store.


Now we're in business. The amazing Pergamon Museum. Some of the most monumental works of antiquity are here, like this one: The Miletus Gate (185 B.C.) -- the entryway to the Roman market at Miletus. The Allied bombing raids during WWII put some cracks in her, but she's been patched up.


A detail from the Procession Street in Babylon, built during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 B.C.) The street ran through the Ishtar Gate and ended at the bridge across the Euphrates. The lions were the sacred animal of the goddess Ishtar. This wasn't an abstract concept to these folks. There really were lions prowling around outside Babylon! Museums in Toronto, Detroit and New Haven, Conn., were also able to snag some of these lions.


Walking down Procession Street, even the most jaded Babylonian had to be in awe of what he would see next: the Ishtar Gate. The glazed bricks look as colorful as ever. Incredible.


The Great Altar of Pergamon (187 B.C.). This massive temple was dug up at the ancient Greek city of Pergamon, which is now part of Turkey. It was once considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World, but somewhere along the line got kicked off the list. (Damn you, Lighthouse of Alexandria!) Is there a CNN/USA Today poll for this kind of thing?


Nobody knows what went on at this temple. Surely there were some kind of sacrifices made to the goddess Athena. She's the faceless one in the frieze fragment below.

Your host smiles vacantly while the Spree River snakes around the Bode Museum on Museum Island.


We're on Oranienburger Strasse now, heading northwest, and this is the Neue Synagogue. I overheard that it's no longer in use because of war damage, but if that were the case, 90 percent of the city couldn't function today. Hard to get solid information. At any rate, it's a museum now.


Time for a well-balanced lunch.


On the next block is the Zapata Cafe complex -- a notorious party spot where drug-addled vampires party the night away. I popped in to take some pictures, but they're too fucking depressing to share, and besides, the place smelled a lot like Hotel Jurine. Hey, thanks for coming along! If you're not museumed-out and would like some more views of the Pergamon, there's an image dump below, accompanied by Howe Gelb and Isobel Campbell.

pergamomnon