Berlin Part Drei

After a few days spent around the city center, we were ready to venture out to a different part of town. We decided to go explore the Charlottenburg district. We enjoyed walking down the quiet streets and admiring the stately buildings, but the real gem of this area is the Baroque Schloss Charlottenburg. It was built for Queen Sophie Charlotte in 1695 as a country house, and was expanded over the next couple hundred years by Prussian kings. It was almost completely leveled in the war, but it has since been reconstructed.



front of the palace




We never made it inside because Penelope was napping in her stroller at the time and strollers weren't allowed inside (silly rules!), but we found the palace gardens much more enjoyable than some stuffy castle.



back of the palace and the gardens




Disclaimer: The rest of this post is mostly about Penelope, so if you have no interest in adorable toddlers who like to show off for the camera, you should just scroll down to the end.


getting a good view of the palace gardens



waving to every person who walks by

showing off for the camera

striking a pose

posing with daddy

looking for ducks

frolicking in the grass

who knew walking could be so much fun?

exploring the flowers with mommy

and the bushes

playing hide-and-go-seek

riding high

time to go...

After an enjoyable time at the palace gardens and a delicious lunch at a small Italian cafe, we decided to head back. (First though, you need to know that it took a 20-minute metro ride to get from our hotel to Charlottenburg.) After lunch, the Father proposed that we walk a little ways through Charlottenburg, which I happily agreed to. Then, he proposed that we walk to this bridge. This I also agreed to if we could then get on the bus or metro afterwards. Well, we never got on that train, or any bus or train afterwads. Somehow, I got conned into walking the entire way back to our hotel. First it was the bridge, then it was this statue, then it was the Tiergarten (a HUGE park). And when my feet couldn't go any further on account of the huge blister that was forming, we found ourselves in the middle of the Tiergarten with no transportation options left and two more kilometers to go. So, now when I think of Charlottenburg, all that comes to mind it the death march I was put on.

Penelope in the Tiergarten