I have found that people are trusted to act responsibly more in Germany. Maybe for good reason. In the Hamburg Zoo a rope separates people from the lion exhibit. The lions cannot get to the people in the zoo because of a ditch and pool of water that separates them from the walkway. Our group joked that in America there would be that one person that got in the lion's exhibit and ruined the experience for everyone. In general there are just less rules and regulations in Germany, and people act responsibly. In this case I was grateful, for we got to spend a great afternoon with an amazing view of so many different animals!
During our visit we saw elephants, llamas, goats, tigers, lions, orangoutang, seals, penguins, flamingos, walruses, and more! The flamingos were beautiful next to the blooming flowers, and I could not believe that the walrus (I am not sure it was actually a walrus because it didn't have tusks?) came right up to the glass. Another favorite moment happened when we visited the lion exhibit right as one female lion walked up to the male lion and nuzzled her head against him.
I have to say though: the goats stole the show! Apparently the goats were super hungry because they were munching on anything they could get to. The goats were reaching for my envelope of post cards, chewing on my purse, and one even completely grabbed my shirt and started tugging! The funniest moment, however, happened when a goat completely took and ate the map out of Alice's hand.
We spotted "Mexican nachos" on the menu, and this sounded like the most delicious thing in the world to our group, so we decided to split these. We were so confused when a plate of Dorito-like chips with a cup of salsa and cup of cheese showed up at our table rather than the typical American nacho appetizer we were imagining. Amusing, nonetheless!
After dinner Gabrielle and I headed back to her host family's house. Splitting "nachos" between 5 people didn't quite satisfy our hunger, so we decided to make dinner...at 9:30PM. Normal. At her host father's suggestion, we made our auflaf, which basically consisted of throwing a bunch of leftover veggies and meats in a pan with noodles, sauce, and cheese. We had such a good time making the meal!
From start to finish:
All in all, it was an amazing day... and it feels so good to feel like we fit right in here in Hamburg! :)