Chris and I arrived at the Pergamon Museum sometime before 11am (it doesn’t open until 10am). After spending a couple of hours looking at a lot of stuff, we were ready for a lunch break before tackling anything more. Lunch, however, turned out to be a bit more of a challenge than we’d anticipated.

Now, while Chris and I love to find interesting places to eat, when we’re in a museum we typically settle for the convenience of lunching at the museum cafe.  Museum cafes rarely have great food, and they are often over-priced. However, they offer the convenience of not having to leave the museum, so you’re right back amidst all the museum things right after lunch.

And, of course, mostly museums don’t offer the option of re-entrance on the same ticket: once you’re in, you’re in. Once you’re out, you need to buy a new ticket to get back in.

With all of these considerations in mind, you can imagine how disconcerting it was to find out that the cafe at the Pergamon is in the part of the museum that is currently under renovation.  So, there is no cafe  – or anything else with food – at the Pergamon.

We found this out from a security guard in one of the exhibition rooms. She advised us that it would be possible to go out and come back in on our same ticket, and recommended that the closest place to get a bite to eat would be the Altes Museum, in the building in front of the Pergamon.

Here’s a look at the Altes Museum building, which like the Pergamon sits on what’s called “Museum Island” in Berlin. You can’t see the Pergamon from this vantage point, as it’s behind the Altes Museum.

Altes Museum, Museuminsel (“Museum Island”), Berlin

As you can see from this next photo (click as usual to open it larger in a new window), which is an odd panorama I made of the area, there aren’t a lot of other buildings nearby that would house other options for lunch.

Panorama with mix of old and new buildings and construction on Berlin’s Museum IslandMix of old and new buildings and construction on the Museum Island, Berlin

So, we went back to the lockers in the cloakroom where we had stashed our coats and umbrellas, grabbed the umbrellas (this was our rainiest day in Berlin and it had already started to rain) and then headed over  to the other museum. We got to the top of the steps and looked around at the doors to try to figure out how to get to the cafe.

There were three security guards standing at the top of the steps, and one of them wandered over to see what we were doing.

Did we have a ticket for this museum?
No.
Did we want to buy one?
No.
Then what did we want?
Lunch. We’re visiting the Pergamon and the security guard there sent us over here.
Really, we don’t want to visit this museum, we just want lunch.

Clearly, this was not a standard request. But I would also think that the story itself was strange enough that it must have seemed like we must be telling the truth and not just trying to sneak into the museum without a ticket. After all, who tries to talk their way into a museum by claiming they are dying to eat some museum cafe food?

The guards motioned to us to ditch the umbrellas (I stashed them in a bag), and then one of them volunteered to escort us into the building and to the cafe. He cautioned  us that we were NOT allowed to look at anything in the museum while we were there. Which was fine – we really did want to go back to the Pergamon after lunch, after all. But the funny part was that we had to walk through a long gallery of ancient Roman or Greek stuff on the way to the cafe.   Well, at least I think it was Greek or Roman stuff … after all, I wasn’t really supposed to look at it, so I’m not quite sure. 😉

Anyway, after a predictably mediocre museum cafe lunch, it was back to the Pergamon. In the time we’d been gone, apparently some visitor limit number had been reached, and there was now a long line out the door, with security guards allowing new visitors in only at intervals. It looked like it was going to be a long wait.

But heck, we’d talked our way past one set of security guards already, right? So, while I waited in line, Chris — looking highly respectable in a sports coat — walked along the line until he reached the guards by the entrance. His charm, personality and good spoken German, combined with the evidence of our previously purchased tickets — allowed us to jump to the head of the line and sail back into the museum for another round.

Well, all that, plus Chris was able to show the guard the key to the locker where we’d left our coats inside the museum. That, as it turns out, was probably the key — er, clincher — in convincing the guard that we’d really been inside the museum earlier before we took a break for food.

Going out for lunch .. when you’re in a museum … it ain’t easy.  As the saying goes, don’t try this at home. Or at the Pergamon, unless Chris goes with you. 😉

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By the way, that panorama above may look a bit odd because it’s a bit more than a 270˚ view. The Altes Museum was really on my left, the Cathedral you see there (the Berliner Dom) was straight ahead, and  the construction cranes were off to my right.