The Brandenburg Gate.
This was being renovated during our stay (and, apparently, it will take another couple of years, I recently found out) so it was covered with scaffolding, but for tourists like us who wanted to take pictures, thay'd covered it with a shroud on which was printed a picture of the Gate. This is a bit crap when you're close up, but from a distance this is very effective as you will see in a later picture. Could have done without the advert, though.
The rather fine picture of the Gate at night is from a postcard.
Just round the corner from the Gate is the British Embassy. This was one of the nominees for RIBA Building Of The Year 2001 (won by the Magna Centre in Rotherham) I must confess, it looked very impressive and modern with a big purple block sticking out of the side at an angle and a huge Union Jack hanging over the street below. It put all the other embassy buildings in the neighbourhood to shame. I must confess I felt a bit of what must have been national pride stirring somewhere within, and I had to control the urge to stand to attention and salute (I was on a bus at the time). |
