Berlin - Day 4 - Pergamon, Berliner Dom & Knut

This was our final day in Berlin. The walking tour that we had originally booked was still on the cards. Lil Miss J and Kt having missed the last leg of Mike The Hottie's tour opted to make their money's worth. J and I deciding that there can be only ONE tour of Berlin took it upon ourselves to see some of the other sights of Berlin. First stop was the Pergamon Museum to see if the Germans were as good as the British and the French at plundering other civilisations.

Outside the Pergamon Museum and the altar indoors.

The Ishtar Gate.

Judging from that one museum, the Germans weren't good plunderers. But what they did take was massive. We can start that whole size versus quantity debate.

Next was the Berliner Dom, a cathedral. Kinda reminded me of St. Peter's in Vatican City.

Being the hungry hippos that we were and with a Christmas market located conveniently opposite (it's Boxing Day and it was open!), we had more bratwurst.

I had come to accept that the short time we were spending in Berlin would not be sufficient to visit my beautiful-but-not-so-little-anymore polar bear Knut :D at the Berlin Zoo. It was a little upsetting that I was so close, yet so far and there was some uncertainity about the zoo being open. I was so happy that J and I had time to visit the zoo and more importantly, it was open! Knut was begging for me to visit!

I hadn't seen any recent photos of Knut, now that he is quickly growing out of his puppy-like cub phase and lacking the photogenic qualities and money spinning publicity. I do feel like a mother to a child who is watching her cute, cuddly dependent approach the ugly early teenage phase. A mother will love her child, no matter how ugly - that's how I feel about Knut. It is somewhat crazy.

Here's the important bit - photos:

Me so happy to pose near Knut.

After about 20 minutes of ogling and urging Knut to do something, J and I left. We then walked past the wolves, heading towards the nearby souvenir store so I could voluntarily be sucked in to buying stuff that I would never need nor use but was Knut-related nonetheless.

It was then I noticed about 50 metres away a small crowd of about 10 people near another enclosure. I decided to delay the souvenirs. We moved closer and to my heart-stopping horror I realised that I had spent 20 minutes lavishing love and wasting photos on THE WRONG BEAR. Do you understand?!?!?! IT WAS THE WRONG BEAR!!!

F*#K

I was sooooooo upset with myself, I wanted to cry. I was a mother who didn't recognise her own flesh and blood. While snapping shots of the other polar bear, I did think that Knut had aged kinda rapidly since any last photos I'd seen, but I justified my thoughts with the fact that animals do grow quickly. Then other thoughts ran through my head. Had I instead chosen to go directly the souvenir store, ignoring my innate Asian behaviour of following the crowds, I would not have seen my beloved bear!! *cry*

Damn the Berlin Zoo for having only Eisbär signs and no signs which pointed directly to Knut!

The sign which made me realise my grave error.

Yes, yes, yes, this bear was Knut!

Now I was really happy to be near Knut.

There was no point sulking any further. At least I found my bear. I made the most of the situation and snapped some more photos. Unfortunately, the grey skies and setting sun meant that they weren't that great quality.

Now this bear was much more like what I was expecting. This clearly was a cub moving into early adolescence, still retaining the playfulness of what Knut is adored for. Jade and I could have watched him for ages - chewing on a teething toy, watching him walk towards a bird, falling over on his back and pretending to be human. Knut's a little bit dirty but I assume that is because his zookeeper is no longer permitted to interact with him anymore for the fear that Knut's cuddles may kill him. So no manual bathing for Knut :(

Chewing on his toy.

Oh hey, where's it gone?

Yes he's much bigger, but still adorable. Please pat my soft belly.

I managed to get two fairly ok videos :D

You can clearly hear J and I discussing whether his chew toy was a piece of poo and also cooing over his belly.


He's so cuddly and even pretends to be a dog in this. Such a show for the cameras.

Happier, we went back to the souvenir store. I am proud of myself for refusing that Knut calendar, postcard book, keyring and children's book in German. I still want this book and I was so disappointed the Berlin Zoo only had the German version - maybe I will get one from Amazon. After spending 20 mins in a store the size of a small ensuite, I left happy with my carefully chosen souvenirs.

I left the zoo a happy girl :D The other animals? What other animals?

Of course the question was posed to me - Mike The Hottie or Knut? Well duh, Mike of course! Sometimes you have to make sense of the situation and I choose man over beast.

With a Christmas market across the road from the zoo, it was the perfect way to end our time in Berlin.

We jetted back into London tonight without any problems but Berlin is a destination I will be visiting again!