May 21, 2011, Berlin and Amsterdam!

well, 2 days ago on the 19th we took a bike tour of Berlin! It was really neat to see the city by bike, a little nerve racking though because of all of the people and buses. It rained on us when we were touring, but it was still really fun. We got to see a beautiful monument in the city of Berlin commemorating the Jewish people who were killed in WWII (left). It was very touching, and I was fascinated by it's haunting, yet beautiful feeling. We also visited the zoologic and wildlife institute where we got to practice blowdarting! It was lots of fun (right). We got a tour of the Berlin zoo from the veterinarian, and that was a really neat experience to hear the different ways that they train animals to work with them. Yesterday on the 20th we visited the Veterinary School in Berlin at Freie University. We got to see the horse and the small animal clinic, and we got the opportunity to visit with students who are about to graduate, and learn about all of the differences in our education system. Vet school in Germany is set up very different, but many of the classes are similar.

Yesterday evening a small group of us went to the Museum of Natural History in Berlin. It was one of the most amazing experiences I have had in my life. We got to see the tallest dinosaur in the world, and the best specimen of an Archaeopteryx (the genetic link between birds and reptiles), and we also got to see the largest collection of scientific specimens in the world! Then our guide took us behind the scenes, and showed us the real work area of the scientists and the store of specimens that is not open to the public! It was pretty amazing to see so many incredible specimens that opened up the world of science as we know it today.

Last night we traveled by train to Amsterdam, and I stayed in a sleeper car. It was a very cool

experience

to sleep on a train like that. Now in Amsterdam we explored the city by Canal Tour, and got to experience the Anne Frank house (left) and Van Gogh museum.