Berlin

The Berlin Zoo has been one of the highlights of our trip thus far. Beyond the fact that the animals were extremely diverse, you were actually VERY close to them, and they seemed genuinely happy. Also, there were lots of baby animals :)

Alpacas!

A Hilltopper?

We actually got to pet this guy.

Unfortunately, the weather was terrible in Berlin for the last two full days we were there. The last day, we simply decided to take a tour bus to see the sites because it was not happening any other way. Berlin has a great vibe, and I think it would have been one of my favorite cities if we had more time to explore. My map stated that Berlin is nine times the size of Paris. I believe it! The city is gigantic, and it would be nearly impossible to see and do it all if given a full month. There is just so much history. Please excuse some of the pictures; it was incredibly difficult to get the camera to focus with the heavy rain, so we had to play around with the camera settings just to get a decent picture.

East Side Gallery - In 1990 (one year after the wall came down), they allowed artists to come and paint the walls with murals of various meanings and purposes. Here are a few of my favorites:

 

A bit racist, but good imagery nonetheless.

Our first meal in Germany! We stumbled upon a mini-Wurstfest in the mall parking lot.

The Germans have great playgrounds everywhere! I felt like a kid again. However, notice all of the graffiti in the background. This playground was on the east side. Berlin is still very much divided by the former wall - the east side is still very poor but is starting to attract members of the artistic community (think Harlem). It still has a long way to go.

Graffiti: with all of the rain, we likened ourselves as inhabitants of the bottom half.

I was not happy about all of the rain; I tried to will it in the direction of Texas. Also, people thought we were crazy for the neon yellow ponchos.

Checkpoint Charlie

Berlin TV Tower - the tallest structure in Germany. I've heard the views from the top are amazing. However, it was not worth it for us to pay to go up given the low visibility.

Berlin's "Walking Man"

Brandenburg Gate

Holocaust Memorial

Reichstag (Parliament building)

I tried currywurst (the biggest fast food item in Germany). It was not bad, though I wanted it to be spicy.

"The United Buddy Bears promote living together in peace and harmony on their global tour. Around 140 Buddy Bears represent as many countries recognised by the United Nations." The bears have been moved from country-to-country. We spent almost our entire time in Berlin trying to find them, and finally stumbled upon them on our last day. Here are a few of my favorites:

USA

Portugal

Cuba (yes, some were very stereotypical.)

Germany