My train left at two so I showed up to check out the Pergamon museum. The old roman ruins built into the actual museum are impressive. They also had a whole bunch of Islamic Art in the form of rugs. The ceramics were also stunning. Hard to get much of it because the history is so ancient. One thing I noted was a little jab at the Soviets for bringing back some of the roman ruins and not giving them all back. I'm sure if the Germans won the war they would have given back all the art they took. Also, all their Middle Eastern stuff came from other countries. Perhaps because the museum bought it there's ownership but it seemed a strange comment to make on one of the exhibits.
Coming back to the main station, I saw two young women getting interrogated by guys in civilian clothes. Took me about 30 seconds to figure out they were tourists who got caught without valid tickets. The young women kept talking about a bus ticket but the ticket police were having none of it. It is a $50 on the spot fine. The girl kept pleading but at one point, the officer took her to the ticket machine and must have showed her the notices in English stating the rules. Tough luck. I must admit that I found the system so frustrating the first day that I very nearly hoped on a train without a ticket. Did not realize they walked among us without uniforms.
Not too much trouble catching the train but Berlin McDo's suddenly cut their electricity. Not impressed! Nice to ride the train in the day and see the German countryside. Very pretty. Train was late though so it means a two hour layover in Karlsruhe before getting back to Strassbourg. I've enjoyed my break but looking forward to hoping on the steel horse again!