Tiergarten und Zoologischer Garten Berlin
We arrived at Berlin Tegel on a Saturday morning, early enough that we still had an entire day ahead of us. It was still too early to check-in, but the hotel was able to hold our luggage.
Randy chose our hotel based on its proximity to a metro stop that would conveniently take him and his colleague to the convention center, and the kids and me to the touristy parts of Berlin. We stayed in the area of Tiergarten, near the Berlin Zoo. For the most part, it met all of our needs, but we did have difficulty finding restaurants in the immediate neighborhood.
So with our bags securely stored, we set out to walk around Tiergarten until we could check-in to our room and sleep.
Our first stop was Siegessäule, not far from our hotel. This victory column was originally commissioned in 1873 to celebrate the Prussian victory over the Danes. By the time it was erected the Prussians had scored a few more victories, so Victoria (aka "Goldelse") was added to the top.
Against the grey skies the gold especially stood out.
Siegessäule was not originally in this location near Tiergarten. It had been closer to the Reichstag until the Nazi Government relocated it to this spot as part of their grand redesign of Berlin. In my preparations for this trip, I had planned to explore how the West Berlin-East Berlin divide marked (or didn't) Berlin. I had not considered how the city would still bear this kind of evidence of the Nazi past. It just made me--still makes me--pause.
We did not go to the top viewing platform, but just around the base where there were mosaic celebrating the Prussian victories.
This street, running east-west on both sides of Siegessäule, has had several names throughout history, the current one dating to the Cold War. In honor of the 1953 East Berlin workers' uprising, West Berlin that same year renamed their share of this road "Straße des 17. Juni."
On Sunday we once again ventured to Tiergarten, making our way to Zoologischer Garten Berlin. This was opened in 1844, making it the oldest Zoo in Germany. I always have mixed feelings about zoos (I used to have a membership to the Pittsburgh Zoo even), but in Berlin it was definitely worth seeing with the kids.
Zoo Berlin is noted for its large collection of animals and breadth of species. That means that they have a lot of animals I didn't know I could to see at the zoo, like the chickens.
There were also essentials, like the giraffes.
We spent quite a bit of time around the penguins, of course. Not only because we were still freshly elated from our own Penguins, but also Zoo Berlin has such cool penguins.
Outside, there are African and Humboldt penguins on exhibit. Since neither of these species live on Antarctica, they do not need to live in refrigeration.
As I said, still freshly elated.
Inside the colder penguin house, we were entertained by the rock hoppers swimming.
The king penguins were engaged is some sort of fracas. Watching their fight, we waited for a hockey game to break out (ba-dum-dum).
There were a few creatures indigenous to North America that were exhibited as exotics, just like those animals from Africa. It is always interesting to see something considered commonplace in one part of the world treated as something special. Zoo Berlin had a bald eagle, black bear, and bison.
I am always intrigued by the European re-interpretation of the American West. Lucky Luke, Oktoberfest songs, even (my favorite German band) Die Toten Hosen videos. There are American motifs present, but something isn't quite right. I enjoy it as I enjoy so many other German things.
These days the big draw to Zoo Berlin are the new pandas, the only pair in all of Germany. However, when we visited in June, the pandas had not yet been placed on exhibit. The enclosure was still under construction. If we have the chance to return, we will definitely get back to the Zoo to see them. I really like the pride of place pandas take in zoos outside of China. They are considered special here in China, too, but they are truly rare in zoos in the rest of the world.
Our first two days in Berlin we kept to a fairly easy pace. Randy's work would keep him really busy for most of the week, and the kids and I would soon kick into our ambitious tourist gear.
Randy chose our hotel based on its proximity to a metro stop that would conveniently take him and his colleague to the convention center, and the kids and me to the touristy parts of Berlin. We stayed in the area of Tiergarten, near the Berlin Zoo. For the most part, it met all of our needs, but we did have difficulty finding restaurants in the immediate neighborhood.
So with our bags securely stored, we set out to walk around Tiergarten until we could check-in to our room and sleep.
Our first stop was Siegessäule, not far from our hotel. This victory column was originally commissioned in 1873 to celebrate the Prussian victory over the Danes. By the time it was erected the Prussians had scored a few more victories, so Victoria (aka "Goldelse") was added to the top.
Against the grey skies the gold especially stood out.
Siegessäule was not originally in this location near Tiergarten. It had been closer to the Reichstag until the Nazi Government relocated it to this spot as part of their grand redesign of Berlin. In my preparations for this trip, I had planned to explore how the West Berlin-East Berlin divide marked (or didn't) Berlin. I had not considered how the city would still bear this kind of evidence of the Nazi past. It just made me--still makes me--pause.
We did not go to the top viewing platform, but just around the base where there were mosaic celebrating the Prussian victories.
This street, running east-west on both sides of Siegessäule, has had several names throughout history, the current one dating to the Cold War. In honor of the 1953 East Berlin workers' uprising, West Berlin that same year renamed their share of this road "Straße des 17. Juni."
On Sunday we once again ventured to Tiergarten, making our way to Zoologischer Garten Berlin. This was opened in 1844, making it the oldest Zoo in Germany. I always have mixed feelings about zoos (I used to have a membership to the Pittsburgh Zoo even), but in Berlin it was definitely worth seeing with the kids.
Zoo Berlin is noted for its large collection of animals and breadth of species. That means that they have a lot of animals I didn't know I could to see at the zoo, like the chickens.
There were also essentials, like the giraffes.
We spent quite a bit of time around the penguins, of course. Not only because we were still freshly elated from our own Penguins, but also Zoo Berlin has such cool penguins.
Outside, there are African and Humboldt penguins on exhibit. Since neither of these species live on Antarctica, they do not need to live in refrigeration.
As I said, still freshly elated.
Inside the colder penguin house, we were entertained by the rock hoppers swimming.
The king penguins were engaged is some sort of fracas. Watching their fight, we waited for a hockey game to break out (ba-dum-dum).
There were a few creatures indigenous to North America that were exhibited as exotics, just like those animals from Africa. It is always interesting to see something considered commonplace in one part of the world treated as something special. Zoo Berlin had a bald eagle, black bear, and bison.
I am always intrigued by the European re-interpretation of the American West. Lucky Luke, Oktoberfest songs, even (my favorite German band) Die Toten Hosen videos. There are American motifs present, but something isn't quite right. I enjoy it as I enjoy so many other German things.
These days the big draw to Zoo Berlin are the new pandas, the only pair in all of Germany. However, when we visited in June, the pandas had not yet been placed on exhibit. The enclosure was still under construction. If we have the chance to return, we will definitely get back to the Zoo to see them. I really like the pride of place pandas take in zoos outside of China. They are considered special here in China, too, but they are truly rare in zoos in the rest of the world.
Our first two days in Berlin we kept to a fairly easy pace. Randy's work would keep him really busy for most of the week, and the kids and I would soon kick into our ambitious tourist gear.
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