“Hallo” from Berlin, Germany from the Tolisano family!
We had some wonderful days in the capital city of Germany. Although it was very rainy and cold, we were able to visit many important sites. One particular interesting and moving place was the “Brandenburger Tor”. It used to be directly behind the Berlin Wall and was a symbol for a divided Germany. It has a long history. Napoleon Bonaparte already marched through it and American presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan held famous speeches in front of it (on the West side).
Some of you might wonder if we got to see a very famous “Berliner”? Yes! We went to the Zoo and saw KNUT, the polar bear. He is over six months old now and has grown. Yes, Knut is as cute as we imagined. After his official play time with his zoo ward,Thomas Doerflein, in front of hundreds of visitors and cameras, we saw him again in an area close to his polar bear parents “Lars” and “Tosca”. Mr. Doerflein had left him by himself and poor Knut was “crying” for him.
Knut was not hte only bear we saw in Berlin. Since a bear is the official animal for the city of Berlin, they are to be found in many places. There are painted statues of bears all over town. These statues are similar to the jaguar ones we have in Jacksonville. These Buddy-Bears, as they are called are very creative. Some are dedicated to different countries in the world. I was very happy when I saw an Argentinean bear with a blue-white-blue flag and a Tango dancers painted on it. In the picture you see us in front of the German Buddy Bear.
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