Wow it made the front page of Explore - and I missed it!!!

Thanks everyone:-))

Explore #147

Tags:   snake green steamy berlin zoo NaturesFinest ultimateshot Explore

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This little otter was admiring it's reflection at Berlin Zoo

Tags:   otter reflection berlin zoo supershot ABigFave SOE ultimateshot searchthebest

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Polar bears conjure up memories of the fantastic trilogy His Dark Materials by Phillip Pulman. If you haven't read the books I would highly recommend the series. Although meant for children, they are such fantastic books, adults can enjoy them too. I understand they are in the process of making a film of them.

In the books the main character , Lyra, meets the Panserbjornes. "The Panserbjørne are large polar bears who almost always wear their robust armour. They have opposable thumbs on their front paws. Despite their large digits and immense strength they have remarkable dexterity. This, together with an innate sense of metallurgy, makes them exceptional metalsmiths, and they are capable of creating and repairing metal items far beyond the capabilities of human smiths"

Oh btw have a Happy Furry Friday! I will get commenting shortly, just so much to catch up on now we are back:-)

Explored#68

Tags:   polar bear his dark materials berlin zoo panserbjorne Impressedbeauty flickrdiamond ultimateshot DiamondClassPhotographer explore

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Berlin has such a painful history, you wonder how it could have ever recovered but it has. All around are reminders of what horrors can occur if we let them. The hotel where we stayed was right around the corner from where some of the wall is still standing. Incredibly, the inscription has my namesake on it, so it had to be recorded. I have personal links with these sad times, as my father was sent to a concentration camp during the war and my godfather and his wife were separated when the Wall went up - she on the East and him on the West.

But here we are today and in different times. The people of Berlin are so wonderful that there is little time for sadness. Berliners are amongst the most friendliest people I have met. Everytime we stopped to check the map or were looking a little lost on the underground, some friendly local came to our aid and made sure we got where we were going.

Tags:   Berlin Wall

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This was a small mall near what would have been East Berlin. These imposing figures stood at the entrance.

Tags:   Berlin

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