Helga

While walking around the duck pond in the center of the park in Berlin, we met a pug named Helga. Now, we all love pugs, but Ben REALLY loves pugs & this might have been the best day of his life. The kids played with Helga for almost an hour. The pug's owner and I sat, equally content with the energy being burned up. Random people were taking pictures of the pure joy in all of their faces. Such a nice day.

Another pug came by and they just ran and ran.

Sweet Helga

More of the park in Berlin

We found a little cafe around lunch, but all they had for us was a pretzel and ice cream. The kids were happy with that!

Another playground

My little explorers

Garden of Beasts

In the Garden of Beasts was a wonderful book by Eric Larson that Matt & I read in Germany. It was about Berlin during Hitler's rise to power & a University of Chicago professor who was there with his family. Good read. I don't think this was the "Tiergarten," but it was beautiful. Our hotel was just around the corner, but we had no idea that this giant park was there. It must have been miles and miles of parks. The entrance was set back and the kids & I decided to check it out on our last full day in Berlin. We were not disappointed.

Ping pong tables

One of the many playgrounds in the park. They are all made with beautiful reclaimed wood & have natural elements that just let the kids imagine and discover. We especially loved this water spout that we could move around and damn up. So fun!

This is what we found behind the hidden entrance.