Rain, Rain, Go away!!

May 20^th, 2011

The last few days have been a lot of zoos J Which has been a lot of fun for me! The only disappointing thing about the zoos so far is that we haven’t had anytime to explore the zoo on our own and see the animals outside of the tours. The baby elephant that fell asleep at the Cologne zoo was adorable! I also enjoyed the animal “body worlds” exhibit. I had previously seen the human body world exhibit in the US and enjoyed it, but the animal one was amazing!! The Berlin Zoo was a lot of fun too. The tour by André Schuele (the zoo veterinarian) was very informative- I learned a lot! Even stuff about animals I used to work with at the Columbus Zoo! Also, we got a chance to see the Tierpark in Berlin. It was amazing to see such a large green space within the city with animals scattered throughout. It would be a park I would want to spend a lot of time in if I lived in Berlin.

In Cologne we did a rooftop tour of the Cologne cathedral- it was horrifying!! Only because I’m scared of heights and don’t like to be near ledges high in the air. The views from the roof were amazing and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I’m glad I toughed it up and did the tour. The inside of the cathedral was just as beautiful too- the stain glass was awestrucking. It was interesting to find out that the bones of the three Wiseman are located within the cathedral. We also did a walking tour through the city. My favorite part of the tour, besides the church, was the wall on the bridge with all the locks. I like the tradition and story behind the massive stretch of wall filled with colorful, decorative locks.

Berlin brought a non-stop few days of travel. It was go-go-go from sun up to sun down. Outside of the zoo we went on a bike ride of the city. The tour was very interesting and I learned and got to see a lot in quite a short amount of time. We also visited the Leibniz Institute and learned about their research opportunities and the advancements they have made. It was cool to see the room with all the skulls, bones, and preserved specimens. I also enjoyed the opportunity to attempt using a blow dart gun. I missed the target L The dart hit a little high.

Today we went to the Free University in Berlin and did tours of the small and large animal hospitals. I was amazed that the hospitals were located tucked back in an area with a lot of trees. It was interesting to see how their hospitals operated on a day-to-day basis. A lot of their procedures are similar to how a clinic operates back in the US. It was nice that they took the time to go around in both hospitals and tell us about all the patients that were there.

Now we are off to our first free weekend. I’m off to Prague! Today was also the first day it didn’t rain!! Hopefully we’ve turned the corner to nicer weather J