It rained for quite a while last night. When I got up, all I could see of the TV tower was the mast above the observation dome due to the low cloud. By 9:00 it had started to rain again. Today was a bit of a "mop up" day. I've done all the big ticket items off my to-do list so it was a matter of deciding which of the "lesser" things I felt like. Also, I had been leaving some of the indoor activities until later in case of wet weather, so here was my opportunity.

Walking all the way into the city wasn't going to be an option today so I took the now familiar route to my nearest u-bahn (underground) station. The U2 takes me all the way to Potsdamer Platz which is where I decided to start.

When I visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe I only saw the memorial itself and not the information centre below it. There had been a small line up so I decided to come back. Might have been a bad move as when I returned to try today the queue was 6 times longer and not moving. A couple from NZ arrived in the line behind me so I struck up a conversation. I must say it was therapeutic to have a prolonged, comfortable English conversation. When it was clear the line wasn't going anywhere in a hurry I decided to bail and move on to my next stop instead.

My next stop was the Deutsche Kinematik, a museum of German film located in the Sony Centre in Potsdamer Platz. The first part of the museum was an introductory space that masterfully used mirrors to create infinite reflections in just about every direction! It was pretty amazing. Unfortunately my snaps don't do it justice, and just after the second shot I was politely told that photography was not allowed ... oops.

The museum was really interesting and chronicled the German film industry from when it was quite ground breaking to the present time. I spent about an hour and a half wandering through. One of my favourite parts was information about Metropolis, which I saw at the Adelaide film festival a few years back. Fritz Lang employed 3,600 extras through the course of filming!

After that museum I wanted to head to the Deutsches Historiches Museum which is a German history museum. On the way I checked the queue back at the memorial and it was just as long if not longer. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

I also wanted to drop into one of the shops that exclusively sell merchandise modeled on Berlin's version of the "walk" sign - Ampelmännchen. He's not the almost androgynous version we have in Australia. He has a very distinct appearance and swagger. Apparently he was an East German invention and has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity. There's a good Wikipedia article if you're interested. Unfortunately the stores didn't sell anything I really wanted so I left empty handed.

The German history museum was to the east of the city near the other museums. I got there about 1:45 thinking I'd spend a couple of hours. It was really well laid out taking you right from the beginning to present time. I know quite a lot about 20th century Germany so I was most interested in learning about the beginnings from the time of the Roman Empire and later how Germany finally formed. When I finished, I checked my phone thinking it would be about 3:00. It was 5:15! How time flies.

From there it was just back to the apartment. So, not many photos today. I'm not big for taking photos in museums and art galleries and there wasn't anything else today that I haven't already shared ... other than the rain. I'd thought about going out to check some of the other Festival of Light installations tonight but it's still too wet. Tomorrow's forecast is for dryer conditions so I might try then.

Day 20 (part 2): Or where did that day go?