A Day at the Zoo

Petra's House, April 21, 2015, 6:45 p.m.

Lecker!  It's the word of this trip. Yvette and I had "verklempt" when we first traveled to Europe so many years ago. This recent trip, the word was "d'eau" (pronounced "doh!").  But "lecker," the German word for delicious, is the word in 2015.  We owe the disovery of this expressive piece of the lexicon to four-year-old Mika Grunwald.  Nothing for Mika is ever just "gut" or "good."  It's always "lecker."

Today was lecker.  A bit of a later start this morning, as we were all so tired from yesterday.  Breakfast was yummy pastries from the local bakery again, along with a Diet Coke for me, of course.  Then, with Sascha as guide, we hoofed it over to the U-bahn station, then caught the bus for downtown.  Sascha does a great job of pointing out the interesting sites as we ride along in the top section of the double-decker bus.  We saw the building where JFK gave his iconic "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech (yes, he was a little jelly donut.  Today, I learned about a place called the Humboldt Flak, a left-over anti-aircraft housing from WWII.  Despite efforts to destroy it, the bunker remains in the midst of one of Berlin's many parks. While I doubt we will be able to visit, I appreciated learning about this unique piece of war history remaining in the city.

Our destination today was the Berlin Zoo.  I think it must have been a long time since I've been in a zoo, a real full-size zoo. I felt the same level of excitement at the sight of each new animal as the kids did.  Of course, before we could see the animals, we had to take photos in front of the famous entrance, a beautiful pagoda-like structure guarded by two giant stone elephants.

Inside, the lions, tigers, and bears were joined by elephants, monkeys, hippos, a single rhino, wolves, weird birds, and much more.  And, being obnoxious Americans, we called out "what day is it?" and "Mike, Mike, Mike" to the camels.

In between exhibits, the girls and I talked a lot about the differences between German and American cultures.  As Yvette and I dicussed in Paris, Europeans are not as litigous as Americans.  The result is more freedom for everybody.  No governmental paternalism could be found at the Berlin Zoo.  The animals were much more accessible to the public, not hidden behind huge blockades that protect idiots from their own foolish behavior. People took care of their kids, and it felt very safe.  In fact, the play area in the middle of the park was both enormous and full of things to climb on--and fall off of.  But parents were responsible, the kids played hard, and any tears that came along were quickly dispensed with.

When this lion roared, you could hear him

all through the big cat/nocturnals house

Maddie stands in solidarity with the leopard

They seem like nice penguins...

...but they're jackass penguins

The Maddie and Heidi of the animal kingdom

Ice cream stop

The real Berlin Bear 

The artist at work 

TJ!!!

Heidi's creepy-eye bird friend 

Back to the bus and back to the flat on Ordensmeisterstr.  Petra had stayed home today to deal with a plumbing issue, and she ure seemed glad to see us when we returned. Acctually,Maddie, Heidi, and I arrived home first. Reiner and Sascha, with Mika in tow, stopped at the grocery store, while Melli went home to give TJ a little rest.  She and TJ are back at the house now, along with Ollie who had to work today. Petra has made delicious Berliner Weisses, and everyone in the room is playing with some sort of electronic edevice--the modern familyl

In a few minutes, Reiner will drag his remarkably tired self into the kitchen and whip up a traditional American meal:  tacos, quesdillas, and margaritas.  We will all eat together and enjoy each other's company. I love these Germans--they are lecker.