Family Trip to the Aquarium

Ehhh!

Nasty reptiles will haunt my dreams.

The Berlin Zoo also includes a world-famous Aquarium, which we skipped over when we first arrived in favor of the zoo. Today, since the weather is getting colder, the aquarium was our destination.

As usual, it's nice to find an indoor haven where we can unleash the kids and let them run wild. Which is what they did, with the handful of other children who were there.

Alice's staring contest with a fish

The first floor was many aquariums with fish and other things you'd expect at an aquarium. Alice liked staring at the fish and Leah was just in a rush to see it all.

The second floor was mostly reptiles (including "Alligator Alley") and the third floor was bugs. I kid you not, ants were suspended from the ceiling and hairy spiders were displayed in the benches. But I don't mind bugs as much as I do reptiles. Snakes, namely. And there were too many of those. And turtles, which I've had an aversion to since I nearly was killed by one as a kid. (No jokes about it being a harmless snapping turtle. It was out for my blood.)

Looking at fish

Overall a successful trip to the Aquarium, which included a stop to the gift shop. (Dave's favorite part.)

Afterwards, we drove along Ku'Dam. What is Ku'Dam? Geez, I've only mentioned it in several posts!! It's the shopping street that took the place of Unter Den Linden once the Wall went up. It was the Western version of a grand shopping avenue. And it's pretty grand, and included all the big names,  though being Sunday, nothing was open.

Well, that completes are last weekend in Berlin. Next weekend, we'll be home and celebrating Halloween. And, since it is Sunday, we'll be watching football -- and event Dave is probably most excited about.

The Berlin "Zoo" (Rhymes With Toe)

It's a sunny Sunday morning and we took a family trip to the Berlin Zoo. Instead of taking mass transit, we jumped into the Benz for the quick trip across town. Why not?!

Alice wants a better look

We spent about four hours walking around the zoo (they pronounce it like "toe"). It's a very clean zoo, where you can get very close to the animals. Our favorite part was the nocturnal section -- where Leah loved the bats and I liked the little sloth-like animals called Slow Lori. I'd love to take one home with me, though I'm not much of a night person, so it wouldn't be worth it.

Leah is one of the caged animals

They had several large playground areas, which we'll have to return to later in our stay and really explore.  One playground area was so big, I forgot we were in the middle of a zoo.

Lunch at the Berlin Zoo. Yum!

We ate lunch in one of the two zoo restaurants. It was very clean and the food was good. Even Leah, who is a picky eater, wolfed down the hot dog and red sauce that tasted a little like sweet curry. Carbonated beverages abound, it's been tough finding apple juice that is flat. Leah detests the "bubbles."

Tomorrow, Dave heads off to work and I have to turn into Super Stay At Home Mommy. I'm feeling a little unprepared for this. But, I think Alice would prefer more of a routine -- as being shuttled around for days is wearing on her. All evening, I've been plotting out some easy day trips and a schedule we can follow.

Daily Motto: Germans love bread, I love bread, therefore, I love Germany.

Tip: You can click on the photos to enlarge