Getting to know Berlin

Our first morning in Berlin began with fresh croissants! Dad went out to a bakery just around the corner where they specialised in French style bread and pastries. 

He was due in a meeting at the conference in the afternoon. We decided to explore the local area with him in the morning  and ended up at the huge Ka De We department store (Kaufhaus des Westens). The food hall was magnificent and we easily found something to have for lunch. 

The Ka De We restaurant

We spent quite a bit of time looking at all the toys and clothes. They have everything you could think of.
We were then able to get our bearings, and plan the rest of our stay.
Dad went off to work...

This is the hotel where Dad's conference was held

......and we grocery shopped so we could eat our favourite homemade veggie burgers for dinner.
The next morning we went with Mum and bought special train tickets to get us easily around town on trains, buses or the trams. From the station we caught our first Berlin bus....

The bus we took to the zoo.

......to take us to the Berlin Zoological Garden.

Daniel and Madeleine at the elephant gate.

There we waited in one of the longest queues we had been in or ever seen! It was worth it because it was "fanfairytasmagorical"! All the animals were very clean, healthy and happy. We walked for hours seeing all the beautiful enclosures of the animals and ended up very hot!!

Madeleine and Daniel in the Walrus Ship.

The Walrus ship.

Saying hello to a seal.

 We learned that Dad had met up with Mia and Edy's Dad, Pete. He travelled all the way from Geelong to be at the conference. We walked over the padlock bridge again and had another great dinner together at the Cafe Am Neuen See.

Dinner with Pete at the Cafe in the Tiergarten.

The next day Dad went to the conference in the morning but decided to take the afternoon off to see a bit of Berlin with us. He had contacted his friend Bini and arranged to meet in Potsdam. Bini now runs dance classes there and lives nearby with her husband Stephan and 2 children; Stella and Selma. We went on a fabulous boat ride to see the sights and then had great fun in a playground. Bini had prepared fruity treats for us all and Stephan was amazing as a local tour guide. The boat had a special feature that allowed it to pass under the low bridges. As you can see from the photographs the roof of the cockpit went up and down to allow the boat to pass underneath even the lowest bridge. At one point the roof was lowered so far that the captain's head poked through a hole ..... it was the only way he could see where he was going!

Can you see the roof of the cockpit going up?

Going under the bridge.

2 families on a boat.

Bini and Stephan and a fruity feast.....

....but all the chocolates have disappeared!

It was a big boat.

I wonder what would happen if I ring this bell?

A lovely day on the lake at Potsdam

The following day we went on another Berlin Bus to see the Brandenburg Gates and Checkpoint Charlie. We saw a lot of bears and encountered the famous East German green man.

What is Mickey Mouse doing here?

The Green man from the pedestrian traffic lights in the old East Germany.

Another Berlin Bear....

And so ended our time in Berlin and Germany..... next stop Italy......