Whistle-Stop Tour completed

"Doing" Germany in 6 days is quite an accomplishment! So instead of my customary photos taken somewhere in our beautiful country (to which I'm always happy to return), I'm going to share today some of what I saw & admired whilst overseas.


As most visitors do when in Munich, you head for the Marienplatz with the Rathaus (= city hall) & it's famous "Glockenspiel" (lasting about 12 min).




Next "stop" - Hannover (where I was born) & where I was fascinated all over again by the Fachwerkhaus (= half-timbered house) building style.



More beautiful Fachwerk-houses in Hildesheim (from where, many years ago, my parents emigrated with us to South Africa).







On to Berlin where, I believe, the Gedaechtniskirche (= Memorial Church) at the Kurfuerstendamm is one of the most "recognisable" icons in the city.....









..... as I believe is the case with the Brandenburger Tor.







Coming from Africa, I'm accustomed to lions but strangely, these wild animals "feature" all over Europe where they seem to have iconic status, although they are often represented as "monuments" (apart from being kept in various Zoos).

As many of my blog entries "testify" I'm fanatic with regard to photographing birds - so "meeting" these 2 baby birds was an exciting moment for me. Unfortunately I couldn't identify them as I'm mostly able to do back home in South Africa.


I also discovered the European "version" of our (SA) Moorhen swimming amongst Swans in the lake at the Nymphenburg palace (in Munich).





As if it "sensed" my interest in discovering how the European version is different to our Moorhen, it displayed its features to me during a ballet-like balancing act - so I could gratefully "snap" the occasion.