There, no point in waiting round. I’ve plonked a photo of a Vermeer (Woman with a Pearl Necklace) at the top of this page. I didn’t expect to see paintings by Rembrant, Vermeer, Gainsborough, Franz Hals and Canaletto during this holiday but I have.

We took a look round the Gemaldegalerie yesterday. This forms only one part of a cultural complex near the Berlin Philharmonic. In the piazza leading up to the building, there was an art installation. Trees in planters, hooked up to hospitals drips containing water, with some chairs attached at the side so you could ‘visit’. Once in the gallery paintings are arranged in small rooms in a long oblong and you walk round it’s perimeter. The early works did not in the main interest either of us. They concentrate on saints, cruxifitions and other religious subjects. It was only the later works that awoke our interest.

I quickly get bored in galleries unless they display more modern works. I was surprised to see the Dutch Masters and works from Englsh and Italian painters and some of these won me over. However both of us began to suffer with gallery fatigue and we made an early exit. The cafeteria provided us with a quick lunch and we headed up to the Sony Centre for a cold drink and to people watch for a while.

I don’t know how I have the gall to include images of old masters and a Newcastle Brown Ale beer mat in the same blog, but I have. The Newcastle Brown was available on draught…or ‘draft’ as they write it here. It’s not supposed to be served cold…..

After a quick shop in the Berlin Mall (this really will be the last time..) we wandered back, stopping at Saesons for dinner, before falling into bed, exhausted from another days explorations..