So, We Live in Germany: We Bought a Zoo!* (*a zoo membership)

A long-time dream of mine was realized on June 10, 2012 when Neil and I became members of the Berlin Zoo. I have always wanted to be a member of a zoo or aquarium or other such animal-related visiting grounds. Let's face it, I like being part of a club, regardless of the level of actual exclusivity of said club. I don't know if this stems from the fact that I was what you might call "a nerd" in my younger years (before there was such a thing as nerd-chic...not that I would have been that either) and feel a need to belong to a group of people or not, but I was only slightly less excited when I became a Costco member...ahem, Executive Costco member.

Front of ZooCard.

Back of ZooCard.

But I digress. I have been waiting for Annika to be old enough to appreciate the zoo. Long before Annika was even a thought in my head, I was excited for a hypothetical child with whom I could go to the zoo because Neil hates the zoo. As far as he is concerned, the animals smell, the zoo-goers smell, and everything is too expensive. Fortunately, after I threatened to take Annika to the zoo enough times that the summative cost of admissions would surpass that of the year pass, he caved and got one for himself as well. Plus, with our Jahreskarte we also get 50% off aquarium admission and 10% off the still-too-expensive food. Additionally, with the mild summer we've been having here, the few times we've gone the stink factor has been minimal. Also, it's a super-quick bus ride.

I must say that the first time we went, Annika was not so much into the animals as the other kids and trees and leaves. The second time we went about a month later, she was able to look beyond the shrubbery around the elephant pen and actually see that there was a giant animal there. We've now been to the zoo 5 times (one more visit and the pass has paid for itself!), and I have to say I couldn't be happier. There is a wide variety of animals and exhibits, and most of these exhibits are functional AND have actual animals in them. We even caught a polar bear feeding (another dream of mine...I like to have attainable dreams). However, far and away the best part of the zoo is the petting zoo area. Not so much for Neil and I...I mean, it's really just different kinds of goats...but Annika loves it! For 0,10€ you get a handful of feed and a murder of goats at your feet. I am not sure what you call a group of goats (probably something normal like a herd), but I like that a group of crows is a murder, and these goats can be a tad aggressive when vying for a handful of dry goat feed pellets.

I really thought I had more to say about the zoo, but I think that's pretty much it. Here are a few pictures and videos of cute zoo things.