Sewer Covers

Sandy's pal, Beanie Mouse in England, posted a beary interesting blog on drain covers. Which made Sandy start looking down at the ground rather than up at the sky. He found an interesting drain hole cover on his first try!

That is almost like the one he found in Berlin (a few weeks ago)...

The Berlin one was like a mini tour guide to the main sights in Berlin!

But there are more at home too...

This is the most common one - it is definitely well-labelled! Sometimes these ones are beary worn down and almost smooth... but they are often in the middle of the street and not safe to photograph!

This one is beary pretty and reminds us all to ACT!! Instead of just sitting on our little bear bums (or something like that).

 Again, a very well-labelled manhole cover... it's a little worn though...

This one is kind of pretty too... Enmax is the local electrical company.

But the piece-de-resistance (better look up the correct French spelling for Ben!)...

just need a few acute and grave accents!...

ah-hem... The pièce de résistance is this one!!

 

Isn't that beautiful??? It is a face, but it looks like a windy face which makes no sense for a sewer cover... but then Sandy looked it up online and the face represents the warm Chinook winds that blow sometimes during the winter!

Last Day in Bearlin

Our last day in Berlin was a busy day! We went to see the old Dom in the former eastern part of Berlin. It is beary large and looks beary imposing from the outside.

 

 This is the inside... but you can't see much in this photo! Other than Sandy's silhouette!

Sandy was trying to be beary quiet and inconspicuous in the church (so as not to be kicked out).

This is the inside of the dome... it looks a bit like some of the ones in Roma. You can climb several long flights of stairs (some very narrow) and get up to the outside of the cupola... and walk around out here.

 Sandy managed to get up there and it was a beary long way down. Don't look down!

 While Mama was taking these photographs, some young women cooed over Sandy and asked if he was an "Urlaubs Bär" (Holiday Bear) - which he is... (a bear on holidays) but then afterwards Mama realized that they probably thought he was one of those traveling stuffies. You know... you can send your stuffie on a holiday, even if you can't go. And someone (for a fee of course) will take pictures of your stuffie wherever you send him. Sandy isn't one of those stuffies though... if he's going to go on holidays, then Mama is definitely coming along!

 We got a great view of Berlin from up here!

 After all that hot work climbing those stairs - it was time for something different. Near the Dom, on the River Spree - you can take a boat ride - so that's what we did.

 There were beary many boats on the river!

 Oohh... don't fall in there... it looks kind of murky!

 We got to see quite a bit from the river - this is the Reichstag building.

 And this is a German Beach Bar - they sit on beach chairs here... hmmmm...

This is a big museum... Sullivan was probably in there at some point when he was in Berlin.

After our boat ride - it was off to the airport (Tegel) and then to London (arriving beary late) and up beary early the next morning to catch a flight to Canada. Sandy was very bleary eyed and did not want photos taken of any of that!

International Intermission

Sandy is enroute from Berlin to London and from London to Canada... hence time for an intermission (last Berlin posting yet to come!).

Bear in the Woods

Today we are off on another adventure - but this time out of the hot city - and into the green forest of Grunewald (one the western edge of Berlin). Grunewald means... Green Forest... which it is!

But first, we had to catch an S-Bahn... and it was the first one leaving - so Sandy was all by himself for a bit.

 Aren't those very colourful seats?? Sandy does not blend into them very well.

 And then he thought he would run up and down the aisle for a bit... until that made him too hot... which meant that when we got out of the S-Bahn, we needed to stop... for some ice cream!!

Not Ben & Jerry's ice cream (or even Jerry and Ben's)... but home-made ice cream!

 Their special was a strawberry bowl with 3 scoops of ice cream, fresh strawberries and whipped cream. That seemed a bit much for a little bear though.

 Sandy wanted honey ice cream - but they don't make that over here (or anywhere for that matter!)...

 So he settled on Mocha and Hazelnut... yummm!!! A perfect size for a little bear. After that, we went on a beary long bus ride through the Grunewald and came out at Pfaueninsel... which was our ultimate destination.

 There was a short ferry ride (like 2 minutes)... and only a few people on the ferry (and only 1 bear... that could be seen!).

 There was lots of boat traffic... and Sandy was a bit concerned that the life jackets wouldn't fit him if he fell in the water - but Mama said that his puffy coat was better than a life jacket (for a while at least!).

 After getting off the ferry, Sandy scouted out the island and the map and headed straight up the hill (he is a little bear who loves hiking after all).

 There were some beary large oak trees up there and Sandy climbed up one to get a good view and off in the distance he saw something very different.

 Can you see it? Just above his head on the grass? No? Me neither... but a close-up zoom reveals...

 A peacock!!! Pfaueninsel means Peacock Island - and they run loose over there! Sandy was very excited to have seen a peacock, even at a distance.

 Nearby was a rose garden, which looked a bit dry and very un-rosy... but there were a few left.

 This one is still blooming and smelled beary nice.

 Then, off in the distance, Sandy saw it... the much sought after destination... a ruined palace!! Yay!!! This would be Sandy's first official ruin... He was beary excited but did manage to stop along the way.

 And take photos of some blue hydrangeas (because Hammie likes them)...

 And then Sandy marched off in search of the ruin.

 But got momentarily distracted by the sprinkler which was making pretty rainbow colours and which looked beary tempting for a hot little bear... water... cool water!!! But he managed to stay on the path and arrived at the ruin in a high state of excitement.

 Only to be disappointed dramatically!! This ruin is a fake ruin!!! You can see that the "stonework lines" are just painted on! The outside is made up of painted oak planks. Apparently princes and kings back in the late 1800s liked to build fake ruins on their grounds to and properties to serve as summer homes... or just to make other princes envious that they didn't have such cool ruins. Very disappointed little bear!

 Sandy went off to pout for a bit in a big throne like chair (also made out of wood)...

 But then heard a weird cat-crow sound (best way to describe it) and looking around he saw... some peacocks... who were beary close!! They were the ones making the beary weird noise!

 This one does have a head... it's just preening feathers under it's wing.

 Aren't they pretty? That is a beary fetching shade of blue.

 And one even held still long enough that Mama could take an unblurry shot of it! Very pretty...

One of them even shed a feather... but not one of the pretty blue ones... one of the brown ones. Still... it was a peacock feather! But Sandy left it there (after getting a pic taken) because it is a nature-park... What a great day! Sandy almost forgot that he was so hot!

A Seamstress Mama is Not

Uh-oh... we had a mini-disaster today. Sandy's pants burst a seam along the side... That's what happens when you have a very adventurous bear who want to see everything and climb everything.

 What to do... what to do??? Duct tape would be most useful right now but... none at hand. So we'll have to resort to something old-fashioned...

 Mama had two mini emergency sewing kits with her... and luckily one of them had grey thread, almost exactly the right shade of grey!! The only problem... Mama hasn't sewed since Grade 8 which would be a beary, beary long time ago... If her own clothes sprung a seam, she would just buy new clothes (and forego the mending). But this is Sandy's only pair of pants so... sewing it is.

Amongst much squeaking from Sandy - "Don't poke me Mama!!" - and much concentration... the job was done! Voila... there we have it... It won't win any sewing awards, but it will keep Sandy's bum from hanging out! We don't want to scare the tourist with a bare bear bum!

As a reward for being so big and brave, Sandy got to pose with some of his bear souvenirs. Mind you, not all of them are his. The Berlin mug is for a friend back home.