Marathon tourism part 1

Having run the marathon, and seen some sights, marathon's end started a whole new cycle of checking out Berlin.

Monday we headed off to the Zoo/Aquarium.  I was a little stiff and we were still figuring out the metro but it was a lovely peaceful day.  The Zoo is set in beautiful grounds and has a really strong conservation focus.  Many endangered species that they are trying to preserve (long ago I wrote a community newspaper article about Wellington Zoo, the most interesting and insightful moment for me was the very clear and articulate explanation I heard about modern zoos being much more focused on preservation than "display".... changed my view of zoos in general - noting too that there are zoos that are more about display......so for the anti-zoo folk I think there's a different perspective, so feel less angst ridden about the concept when executed appropriately - although still clearly a little defensive).  I think the highlight for me (apart from the gardens in general) was the hippos.  We arrived in time for feeding and it was kind of amazing to watch - I like the hippos!  The aquarium was beyond dull and not well done at all - mum and I were both indifferent.  Post that, given where the zoo is located, we wandered in and out of some stores and then landed in quite a lovely Italian restaurant where we sat outside and ate good food and drunk good wine.

Mum and I are both coffee drinkers and not particularly chatty first thing in the morning so finding good coffee was important....the first place we discovered had great muffins, a few blocks from the hotel and a little past our ideal metro stop.  Next we found one virtually across from our hotel. Looked like an ice cream parlor but mum pretty quickly figured it out, noting the number of people that cycled through so we decided to give it a go!  Perfect - two good black coffees and two croissants for 5 Euro......woohoo baaaargain.  And of course in all locations mum could smoke!  Mum's smoked for about as long as I can remember (briefly gave up at some point) - I'm not a smoker and never have been.  I'd rather she didn't smoke but can't deny she's fitter than many her age and is aware of when and how she does it......changed seats a couple of times so I wasn't in the down stream!