The Spy Musem was very cool, with a mix of World War information and including the Cold War and after that as well. There were lots of gadgets on display (fictional and not) as well as information about real spies and double agents, and a whole section on spy movies with a heavy focus on 007! We spent a good few hours there and it was really interesting to read all the information.
After that it was definitely lunch time and it turned out that just down the road was a currywurst stand which had one of the highest ratings we'd seen (5 stars on Google!) so we stopped there for lunch. And it was delicious! Rostbradwurst for me, currywurst for everyone else, and chips to share. Fantastic. We then stopped briefly to look at the Bundesministerium der Finanzen, which is one of the few building still standing from after WW2 on our way to the Topography of Terror.
Topography of Terror is placed where several of the key SS and Nazi buildings once stood and is a look at the war through the lens of the SS and the functions of those buildings. It was very interesting, but in all honesty after reading the main information boards there were so many photos and documents to also look at that it was a bit of information fatigue. Not to mention the obviously sad subject matter. Mum and I wandered together and read the main bits, but at the point we got to the photo exhibition we were feeling a bit overloaded. Then we spotted what looked like a school photo of Jewish children, where on closer inspection only one child managed to avoid a concentration camp and survive the war and all the others died, mostly in Aushwitz. I think that is what made us stop for the exhibition, we then realised how sad everything was and decided to just wait for the boys to finish their reading. We all agreed afterwards that it is an important exhibition and that it is also a bit overwhelming at times.
Our final stop for the day was a very unexciting looking car park with a plaque. I wanted to see the car park where the Führerbunker was. Technically parts of it are still there, as the walls and floor were too expensive to remove and so once they took off the roof they simply filled it in with gravel and sand. Now it is a car park, and remarkably close to (within a block of) the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. So it's probably good that there isn't anything other than one sign of explanation there.
After that we caught the train and a tram to get back to the apartment. We will probably have a nearby dinner again tonight, as Mum has got blisters on her feet and we don't want to walk too far to get dinner. Only one day left in Berlin, so we need to fit as much as possible in tomorrow so we have "done" Berlin properly before we move on to Munich. We ended up at the burger place next door to the apartment, Kreuzburger, which was really delicious as well as close! And another early night, so we can pack in touristy things tomorrow.
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