Yan Yan the panda, at the Berlin zoo - I am even more in love with pandas now than I was before! They are just beautiful creatures, incredibly shy, and with so many cute little quirks, like when they eat bamboo, their ears waggled back and forth as they chew! And when they walk they kind of waddle sideways. At the zoo they feed them, I'm not kidding, a bagel! Together with an apple, a large beetroot, and some carrots, followed by mountains of bamboo, that they cleverly strip the leaves off straight into their mouths. I wished I could touch one and feel their fur, it looks so soft!

These bears are all over Berlin - we think they might have been added for the World Cup and each participating nation painted one. This one was near our hotel in Alexanderplatz. As you can see we had some fabulous sunny (COLD!) weather for most of our trip away. We did loads of walking across the city, taking in the sights and sounds of a new city. I don't think I've ever seen so many Italian restaurants outside of Italy! We found a gorgeous little place near our hotel that made the *best* oven-fired pizza, and I had possibly the best pasta dish I've ever had before - tortelloni stuffed with rabbit and figs with a creamy sauce. It was sensational! We also had a more traditional German meal with a tankard (500mL!!) of (yummy!) beer to wash down our schnitzels! We did some shopping at Ka De We, an incredible Harrod's like department store selling absolutely everything luxurious. I say shopping, I meant window shopping! (though I did buy two beautiful ceramic candle holders...)

What else would you expect to see in a Berlin park, other than a beach volleyball court??

Have you ever seen a real live hippo before? They are ENORMOUS!

This former GDR guardhouse was converted into a war memorial after reunification. In a similar structure to the Pantheon, light drops down through an open circle in the roof, and in the middle of the day it swathes the statue with light, a mother cradling her dead son, grief etched on her face. It is a silent, still, emotive dedication to those murdered during the last World War.

The mighty Brandenburg gate, witness to so many egos and such arrogance throughout history. Hitler and Napoleon both passed through this structure, which dominates the skyline from the park. Nowadays you just find buskers spraypainted silver or dressed in bear costumes that demand one euro for a photo with them. And hoardes of tourists paying homage to history.

Inside the Reichstag parliament building's dome, the centre of which is this vortex-like mirrored structure. From the rooftop and dome there are wonderful views across the whole of Berlin, which is turns out is a very flat city! I found an incredible photo taken during the war of a fighter plane crashed and burned out on the lawn in front of the Reichstag. There was an odd sense of disjointed history standing in the modern era near to where the plane would have crashed. Remnants of the past are difficult to locate in Berlin now. It's a city under construction, with cranes littering the skyline, buildings having the guts ripped out of them to be updated and modernised, new shiny sleek mirrored high rise centres creating the illusion of youth and excitement. But this city has a lot to hide, and it hides it well.

The famous TV tower, which was right next to our hotel. In fact, that block-shaped building behind it is our hotel! We were on the 19th floor and had some great views towards the former west Berlin. Unfortunately we were saving the tower for the last day and a) I got the flu so stayed in the hotel most of the time and b) a huge fog came in and obscured most of the tower! Apparently the square we were standing in to take this photo used to be full of beautiful old buildings and cobbled lanes, full of character and history. But when the Russians took East Berlin, they knocked them all down to create a vast empty space that was supposed to be modern and progressive. Behind our hotel was a road nicknamed Stalin-allee - crammed with ugly concrete block squat buildings that were also deemed to be progressive and modern. Funny how times change.

We had a wonderful time in Berlin (or 'Little Bear', which is the origin of the name). This pic was taken in the old quarter, not far from our hotel in the former east Berlin, near Alexanderplatz. It was a beautiful small area of cobbled streets and old houses and full of character and colour. These fine looking fellows in the photo with me were outside a teddy bear shop selling the gorgeous hand made Steiff bears and collectable dolls - I had no idea they were so expensive! I just had to get my photo taken with them!

We had the most wonderful time in Berlin, and I got to see Yan Yan and Bao Bao the pandas! Will upload a trip writeup some time soon, in between work, lectures, study, life it's been getting busier by the hour. But I'm still smiling :)

Lauren and little baby bro Ethan, looking a little stunned - probably the flash!!

My gorgeous little niece - how come I never got gorgeous tumbling curls like that (without a little help?!)??

Happiness is...a hot crisp crumpet dripping with butter and honey bought from the monastery/nunnery island of San Maggiore in the Venice lagoon... This photo was taken on the ferry to the island which you can see to the left) It's a cold day today, and this honey, made by the monks from hives on the island and sold at the base of the bell tower, is warming up my soul beautifully.