Art and Design tour to the Galleries and Museums of Berlin

Perhaps in the Berggruen collection we started with too many greats! For here was Picasso, Matisse, Klee, Giacometti in plenty, a splendid selection of Cezanne drawings. Could the rest of our tour be so good? We saw a huge range in the 10 galleries and museums we visited from those showing 19th century painting, to cutting edge contemporary art, from highly gilded rococo ceramics to an exhibition about DIY furniture design, from 20th century fashion to thought-provoking installation art. Over 5 very busy days, Cranleighans did their best to engage with it all, looking and enjoying, sketching and making notes. Berlin seemed more laid back than London, so that we found it hard to believe how unpopulated the public transport system was, and apart from around Checkpoint Charlie on

Saturday, how quiet the streets were. In our modern hostel we had an excellent central base, a coffee shop and bar, as well as breakfast! This calmness helped because our itinerary was packed – by the end of each day we were tired but pleased that we had managed our target number of sketchbook pages (or at least got close.)

As well as the museums and galleries we enjoyed a bowling session, the delights of the Berlin Mall, the view from a skyscraper on Potsdammer Platz, and the Berlin Dungeon which despite some incredible over-acting, managed to keep us nervy and excited.

The Cranleighans on tour, a mix of Lower and Upper Sixth, were excellent company and, although joining straight after a very tiring first half of term, managed to stay lively and awake – sometimes into the early hours!