The museums here are called the Old Museum and the New Museum; they are connected by a passage gallery. The entrance to the Old Museum is adorned by handsome statuary, and the grand portico is beautifully painted with allegorical and mythological subjects: within, the walls are decorated with frescoes representing barbarous and civilized life, and in the great rotunda are ancient statues of gods and goddesses. From this one passes to the Gallery of Gods and Heroes, the Grecian cabinet, the Hall of the Emperors, and that of Greek, Roman and Assyrian sculptures. But it is vain to attempt a description of this vast collection of paintings, and other works of art in the short space I have to devote to the subject. To appreciate a collection of this kind, one should visit it in person.
The Thiergarten is a great park, two miles long, beautifully laid out, and containing many splendid old trees, rustic paths, and artificial ponds and streams. The grounds are ornamented with statuary, and the fine zoölogical collection is in good condition and well arranged. But we must leave fascinating Berlin, and pass on to other scenes.
Now we reach Ostend on the coast of Belgium, one of the most fashionable watering-places of Europe. During the season it attracts thousands of visitors, especially from Belgium and Holland. It was originally a fishing station, but was enlarged by Philip the Good, and fortified by the Prince of Orange in 1583. In the early part of the seventeenth century it sustained one of the most remarkable sieges on record, holding out against the Spanish for a period of three years, and finally surrendering only at the command of the States General.
| “There are many odd and fantastic sights here.” (See page 347.) |
To-day promenades take the places of the old fortifications, and handsome residences stand where the simple sturdy fisherfolk once dwelt in their cottages. The tide of fashion rolls where a simple people lived their daily life of care and toil. Here congregate people of every nation, the old and the young; and the cosmopolitan character of the promenade is a source of great entertainment to the stranger. As we approach the Digue or chief promenade, which is elevated fully a hundred feet above the beach, we are struck with the beauty of this grand esplanade, a hundred feet wide and extending miles along the shore. On the city side are many handsome buildings; residences, hotels, cafés and some stores. These buildings occupy a space fully a mile in length, but the promenade with its tiled pavement skirts the sea for many miles. Chairs and benches are placed at convenient intervals for the use of the public, and every day, especially in the afternoon, thousands of fashionably dressed people appear upon this walk, rejoicing in the opportunity to display elaborate gowns; some by strolling to and fro before the benches and chairs, and others by more ostentatiously driving by in handsome equipages, with coachmen and footmen in appropriate livery.
Yet it is delightful to sit here on a clear evening, listening to the harmonious melody of the sea, as it mingles its voice with the strains of a fine orchestra, and watching the merry throng passing and repassing. The silent night afar out on the glistening waters seems like a brooding spirit.
| “Thou boundless, shining, glorious sea, With ecstasy I gaze on thee; And as I gaze, thy billowy roll Wakes the deep feelings of my soul.” |