Saturday, 22 April 2017

Saturday 22nd April - Berlin Day 3 (Bundestag), Germany

We took another early morning bus to the tram and then the train into town today.  Unfortunately, there was a complication with our route because of some line problems, and consequently we only just made our time slot at the Bundestag.

The visit was very well organised and, although there was a lot of people to go through, there was no feeling of being rushed.  In truth the visit was restricted to the domed area, which was a pity, but very interesting all the same.  It is an incredible design.  We walked around a gentle slope which progressed up and around the dome revealing great views of the Bundestag area and Berlin.  Strangely, for us, the Dome was open to the elements at the top.  This served the dual purpose of letting the heat out and enabling the collection of water, which was then recycled.  There is also a clever array of mirrors within the dome, which reflect the ambient light down into the parliamentary chamber below.  Moving to the centre of the dome we could lean over the rails and peer through the window into the parliamentary chamber below.  Around this inner periphery was a timeline telling the history of the Bundestag, in words and photographs, which was very informative.

Having had a pretty exhausting few days, we headed back to the campsite so we could ready ourselves for the journey to Hamburg tomorrow.

                   
            Dome on the roof                   Timeline and window to the camber below         Mirror array to capture light

                   
                       In the dome                                                     Open to the elements                                      

          
People on Spiral walkway around dome                      View down from walkway


                   
                                                                                                      Views from the dome
                                                                    




Note: Click on photos for an enlarged view.   Feel free to post a comment on the blog.

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