Munich, Germany: July 3 (Day Two)

Our destination for Thursday morning was the Tierpark Hellabrunn, or Munich Zoo. We grabbed breakfast on the way to the train, bought our tickets, and hopped on the subway. We were there fairly quickly and got into the zoo before the school groups were able to.

The zoo is awesome. It's large, has a children's area, and is organized by separate habitats (Asia, Europe, America, etc). First stop was Europe.
Next stop was the Jungle House. Near the house is where we saw the flamingos, or "mingos" as Marion called them.
Then we saw the gorillas and chimpanzees. There were some statues outside of the area. The first one was large and scared Marion. This was as close as she would get.
Marion noticed the other statue was eating a banana so she got a bit closer to that one. But she wouldn't get too close. Maybe because she also noticed that it was anatomically correct? Nah.
Inside the house we found tanks holding fish and snakes. Marion liked one particular fish and tried to kiss him. I think the fish liked her too. He stuck around for awhile.
This gorilla was hanging out right near the pathway. Marion enjoyed standing next to him and staring at him. Elizabeth and I enjoyed watching him pick his eye gunka nd his nose and eat whatever he found.
On our way out of the zoo we saw giraffes, elephants, and peacocks. Then we came to the rhino. Here is a before shot.
And an after shot.
Can you find the difference? Yea, that was interesting to watch. Especially with a screaming school group next to us. All I can say is that it made a loud sound as it hit the ground and I was glad we couldn't smell it. So after capturing it on film, we walked away. What else are you going to see a rhino do?

After the zoo we took the train back to the Marienplatz station. We decided to grab lunch at one of the many cafes on the square, getting a great table for the noon Glockenspiel show.

Then we walked back to the hotel where everyone had a nap. The zoo was great but it was exhausting!

After naps we decided to check out the Englischer Garten . We thought Marion would enjoy the playground and Elizabeth and I would enjoy the bier garten. The sky was a bit gray but Elizabeth and I were feeling adventurous.

It was sprinkling when we arrived at the English Garden. By the time we made it to the bier garten it was raining a bit harder. We grabbed some food and two Radlers (beer and lemonade) and grabbed a table under a tree to try and get away from the rain.

Marion didn't seem to mind. She liked the french fries.
But then it started to rain harder. And after we mentioned, "It couldn't get worse, could it?", it did. So we decided to seek shelter under a pagoda near our table.
We happened to find a seat right next to some Americans who live 20 minutes away from Elizabeth in the US. What are the chances? Anyway, we hung out there for a little bit trying to get dry. When the rain let up to where it seemed manageable, we decided to make a break for it. We arrived at our train station wet and tired so we grabbed dinner (and another bottle of wine) at a grocery store near the hotel and went back to our rooms get warm.

We dried off, Marion took a warm bath, and I put her to bed. Then I went to go open the bottle of wine with Elizabeth and unwind. We didn't last too long though. Despite our naps, we were both pretty tired. So after a few glasses and learning about the hostage escape in Colombia, I went back to my room to go to bed. I checked on Marion before hopping in bed and found her like this.
Couldn't resist taking a picture. And she slept through the flash. Boy, was I lucky! If you can't tell, that is her baby doll, Baboo (stuffed dog), and blankets on top of her. Her legs are also bent. And the comforter and pillow the hotel gave her were on the floor in front of her portable crib. I should have gotten a picture of that as well but didn't want to press my luck.