Another great thing about traveling with Luca and his parents? Wakeup call is at 9am.I can't even remember the last time I slept in that late.It's awesome =]

After breakfast we headed for the zoo.I honestly can't remember the last time that I was at a zoo.Potter Park Zoo in Lansing is okay, but not something you really go to unless you're with little kids, and when I travel with my parents we normally go for a balance between museums and shopping.Anyway... my hopes for the zoo itself were not that high—I was mainly just happy to be spending the day with Luca and his parents—so I was pretty shocked when I realized how cool the zoo was.They seriously have pretty much any animal you can imagine here: elephants, rhinos, tigers, lions, giraffes, zebras, kangaroos, polar bears, panda bears, sharks, seals... I could seriously go on and on.We spent all of the morning and most of the afternoon there, and I think we all had a really great time.I never expected I would say this, but if you're going to be in Berlin for any length of time, I would highly recommend checking out the zoo in the middle of your visit. I think it would be a great way to break up a marathon of museums, which are in abundance here.

After seeing all of the zoo and aquarium, we headed back towards the Spree in search of a riverboat cruise.We found one quite easily, however one had literally just left.We certainly didn't want to spend a half an hour just waiting there by the docks, so we decided we would need to take a gelato break at one of the cafes along the river.Even though it was quite cold out, I couldn't resist getting some =]

The riverboat cruise was really cool!We saw a lot of buildings that we had already from a different vantage point, as well as parts of town that we hadn't seen yet.There was also an audio guide that gave a brief history of various spots along the river.

The riverboat tour lasted about an hour, after which we headed for the Nikolaiviertel, not far from Alexanderplatz. We walked around a bit and stopped in a store that had a lot of Ampelmännchen (the DDR crossing-man signs) apparel.I'm definitely going to have to go back there; there were a few things that I would have liked to have bought, but like I said, I literally have NO extra room in my suitcase.Luckily I'll be back here with my parents in just a couple weeks =]

We found a German restaurant without too much difficulty tonight.It's a bummer that it has been so cold because it would have been nice to sit outside with a view of the river, but the atmosphere inside of the restaurant was pretty cool, too.The food was also amazing—Luca and I got this shiskabob thing with potatoes, mushrooms, green beans, etc.I think I actually might even take my parents back there because I know they'll also want some traditional German food.

Originally Luca and I had thought about going out tonight, but I think even at the time we were saying it, we knew that we would just end up hanging out in our hotel room.I couldn't believe that tonight was our last night together; it really hasn't hit me that we have to say our goodbyes tomorrow.I'm pretty sure I'm going to be a basket case. The two of us have done practically everything together outside from class for the past four months, and I can't imagine not being able to just walk into his room.Saying goodbye to my family and friends back home was really difficult, but at least I already had a return ticket back home. I have no clue when I'm going to see Luca again.I'm definitely planning on visiting him in London, but that would be 10 or 11 months from now!That's such a long time =/

Enough with the sappy sad stuff, though.Luca and I saved the season finale of True Blood to watch tonight, and I'm determined to stay awake for the whole thing =]

Guten Nacht!