First, some zoo pictures . . . (all of which are from Audrey's camera because my batteries were dead that day)
Here is Knut, the zoo's current main attraction, with his zookeeper. His twin died and Knut was rejected by his mother, so the zookeeper has become his surrogate mother/father. It's hard to get a decent photo Knut due to his constant movement and the throngs of people.
Look closely at the next photo - there's a baby clinging to this mama baboon. It was fun to watch them interact.
This poor creature is quite possibly the zoo's ugliest inhabitant:
The next photo was taken from the top of the Berliner Dom - an old cathedral downtown. After that, we have the Reichstag = Germany's Parliament building. We took an elevator to the roof and then walked to the top of the glass dome - there's a walkway that wraps around the inside perimeter. From inside the dome, you can look out for a great view of the city or look down through the glass ceiling and see where Parliament meets (so that the people can always keep an eye on their government, they say).
Finally, we have two pictures from the Checkpoint Charlie museum. The museum sits on what was once the border between the Russian and American-occupied sections of Berlin (east and west). Before the Berlin Wall was torn down in 1989, people went to great lengths to escape from the Soviet-ruled east to the free west. Hiding inside the hood of a VW Bug was one of the many methods people used to sneak past the guards.
3 comments:
Checkpoint Charlie looks a lot different than I remember...The Wall, the gaurd towers and the East German gaurds with machine guns were a bit of a distraction from the actual buildings. Is there any visible indications of where the wall once stood or is it hard to tell? Also, do you know if they left a section of the wall up anywhere, as a memorial? Mom
Hi Mom! Yes, there are indications of the wall, but it's easy not to notice. A line made of dark cobblestone runs through the street marking where the wall once stood - at least in some areas. They also have some chunks of the wall displayed around the city. And there is suposedly a mile-long (?) section still standing that artists have painted with murals, but I haven't seen that yet. I'll look for it when I go back. The Kastens said you would hardly recognize Berlin if you come back for a visit.
I've been there!!! Don't you love the top of the Reichstag? I love those mirrors... it looks like you were there in some really cool light. How are the rest of your travels going?
-Chelsea
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