Berlin - Day 2

Saturday morning we headed off to the Berlin Zoo. We were able to catch a bus right by our hotel that took us right to the zoo. The Berlin Zoo is the oldest and best known zoo in Germany. We actually haven't been to a zoo in Europe, so I guess it was about time to check one out. The girls enjoyed spending roughly 4 hours at the zoo. The weather was beautiful and they were able to get some wiggles out.

Audrey in front of the flamingos:

Rachel checking out a member of the ape family:

The girls and I in front of a fountain:
Bao Bao, the Giant Panda, enjoying her lunch:
Rachel comfy in her stroller:
Checking out the seals - they had quite the display for seals, sea lions, etc... I was very impressed. Knut, at least we think it's Knut their famous polar bear, they had quite a few polar bears. I'm kind of thinking it's Knut's mother. The bear's looking a bit old and Knut was born in 2006. Anyhow, here's a polar bear:
The kids watching the polar bear:
Audrey chilling in the Beco with Rachel's shades:

Sweet friends: We set a deadline of 2 PM at the zoo. We probably could have spent a lot more time there, but there were other things to see in Berlin. The girls did have fun playing at a big playground there at the zoo. We also missed quite a few animals and we didn't go to the aquarium. We were definitely glad we took a visit to the Berlin Zoo.

After the zoo we walked over to Kaiser-Wilhelm Gedachtniskirche, a church destroyed during WW II. After the war the ruins were removed, leaving the front tower at the base of the Memorial Hall. It was difficult to get a picture of the entire church. Here's the bottom half: And then the top:
Inside the church, you can see the damages to the ceiling and walls:

Inside the new church:

We then hopped on a bus and rode it to the end of the line. They had double-decker buses in Berlin and Rachel loved going up to the top. After walking quite a bit at the zoo it was nice to just sit and drive by some of the sites in Berlin. Once we were forced to get off at the end of the line, we crossed the street, and took the bus back to the Berliner Dom.

While Andy was shooting Audrey's picture that is below, there were a young group of Japanese tourists admiring Audrey. After Andy was done one of the young ladies politely asked if she could take a picture with Audrey. We obliged. Audrey wasn't too sure of the idea... It reminded us of when we were in Barcelona 2 years ago and there was a lady asking to take pictures of Rachel. Fun times! :)Cute Rachel:From there we walked through a little outdoor market and then happened upon Bebelplatz:Andy reminded me, he always does his homework so well for our trips, that Bebelplatz is best known for the Nazi book burning held on May 10, 1933. I remember reading about it in history books and of course the date was easy to remember being my birthday...
We then hopped back on the bus and headed to the Brandenburg Gate since we hadn't had the opportunity yet to take pictures of it in the daylight. Rachel: And then Rachel taking a picture of us (I kind of like the slanted look!):
From there it was a short walk to the Holocaust Memorial. Quite an interesting memorial. It was actually designed by an American architect and inaugurated on May 10, 2005... The site covers 19,000 square meters and contains 2, 711 concrete slabs varying in height. Why 2, 711 slabs? One for each page of the Talmud, which is a central text of mainstream Judaism. Interesting, huh?
We had fun exploring and walking through the memorial. It's not exactly meant to have fun in, but when you have little girls who love to play peek-a-boo, that's what happens.
From there we met up with some friends, enjoyed another delicious dinner, and called it a day. When we got back to our hotel room there were 2 chocolate Easter bunnies left for our girls. They were definitely enjoyed! And my toe - still doing quite well despite walking quite a bit at the zoo... :)