Great weather today, lots of walking (seriously, even for me) and over 500 pictures taken. Yes, you read that right, I took over 500 pictures today and more than half of those were of the three tigers at the zoo (Zoo Berlin).

When I first walked by their enclosure they were asleep. But I hit the jackpot when I walked by for the second time. For well over an hour I stood at their enclosure snapping shots in action mode as first the two, and then the third tiger walked, drank, played and were generally active. There was definitely a disturbance in their force (not sure why – maybe they were getting hungry) but it led to lots of great photo opportunities for me. Funny how happy it makes me to watch tigers – too bad I can’t do it more often. Of course there are my “little tigers” at home (Smucker and Freckle) but it’s not quite the same although I do love them dearly. I took so many pictures that my right wrist hurt the rest of the day from gripping the camera so tightly for so long without a break – but I was okay with that.

Here’s just some zoo and one tiger pic – the rest are at the bottom:

After the zoo, I rode the bus (the third means of public transportation in three days) almost all the way to Schloss Charlottenburg. The desk clerk told me to get off at the wrong stop so I ended up with a bit more walking than expected but I found my way without any trouble. Of course I made sure I picked up the bus right outside the Schloss and rode it all the way back to the hotel.

The Schloss grounds were lovely, rather peaceful and serene, lots of wooded trails and paths and many lovely flower gardens. I’ve included some of my favorite shots to help balance out the tigers, although really, when can you ever have too many tiger pictures?

Back in my neighborhood, I ate a very late lunch – supper, really – at a sidewalk café, Brasserie Le Paris. Ordered an Alsace tarte (onions and bacon) and didn’t realize it was going to be so big. I ate half of it (lots of walking, no food, remember?) and took the rest back to the hotel. Maybe if it doesn’t go bad without refrigeration, I can munch it for lunch tomorrow when I’m at the Baltic Sea. A bit later, I went out for dessert – you guessed it, another cone of Blueberries and Cream Ice Cream at Haagen Daaz.

For tomorrow, yet another means of transportation – the ultimate test, driving in a foreign country in a foreign car… You’ll hear more about it tomorrow, I’m sure.

Enjoy the pictures!