A day in West Berlin

After spending most of yesterday in the eastern attractions of Berlin, today I made plans to visit the western attractions, including the Berlin Zoo and the adjacent Tierpark, as well as walking along the banks of the River Spree for a while.

My Flickr set for Berlin is still up:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/81692166@N05/sets/72157645070653730/

The day started off badly, as I overslept and got a start that wasn't nearly early enough. It wasn't until about 11 that I rocked up at the zoo. I was excited to see it as it has what it claims as the largest number of different species in the world. The exhibits were a little small for some of the animals, but most of them were more than big enough. I found it amusing that I could see kangaroos and emus more than 17,000 kilometres away from home.

True to form, there was an enormous number of species at the zoo. There were birds from all over the world (including Brahminy Kites from Australia), and some of the cutest-looking miniature owls you've ever seen. I think the ibexes were my favourite animal. They had a sort of rocky outcrop, and they are naturals at rock-climbing. Some of the manoeuvres that even the kids were pulling were outrageous. Of course, being Europe, no zoo would be complete without lots of pretty flowerbeds, fountains and old buildings:

My faves from Berlin Zoo

Once I'd left the zoo I headed back to the S-Bahn station to get some lunch. Fried noodles are another popular snack choice in Europe, and I got a box for €2.50:

Today's noodle box lunch

The Berliner Tierpark is a massive park area that adjoins the zoo. It's full of walking tracks, and has plenty of little nooks and crannies to explore. The Siegessäule (Victory Column), commemorating a 19th-century victory for the Prussians, is supposed to have magnificent views of the centre of Berlin from its viewing platform. Unfortunately I was 10 minutes late and the platform was closed:

Walking track in the Tierpark and the Siegessäule

I took a detour north at the end of the park to take a walk along the banks of the River Spree. The river was magnificently photogenic in the evening light. I took so many photos that I had to break out my second memory card:

The River Spree in the afternoon

My next afternoon stops were the Reichstag building, where the German parliament sits, and Brandenburg Gate. The Reichstag building looked very pretty in the afternoon sun, but unfortunately I will have to come back to Brandenburg Gate - while it was great to experience a world cup match in Germany, the whole plaza, including the Gate itself, was adjourned with soccer stuff:

The Reichstag building

I then walked from the Brandenburg Gate to the Berliner Dom, which is another of Berlin's older buildings. It looked absolutely fabulous at sunset, just like everything else so far in Berlin:

Berliner Dom

My dinner today - a Doner kebab:

Doner kebab

Finally, after finishing dinner, I went to the nearby Alexanderplatz and took a stab at some night photography. The square doesn't have a whole lot in it, but the surrounding buildings are lit up quite nicely at night:

Alexanderplatz at night