FLOCKE.

So the reason for my daylong detour to Nuernberg, Germany was to drop off a painting for a client. However, once in Nuernberg, I could not pass up the opportunity to see this:...the widdle baby polar bear born last December at the Nuernberg Zoo. CUTENESS. I couldn’t resist. Unfortunately, she was out only briefly, and was a bit far away from where I was standing... here's the best photo I got of the wee bundle of fuzzy adorability that is Snowflake, the polar bear cub ("Flocke, das Eisbaerbaby):I also got to see her waddle offstage with her minder. I died. Died of cuteness overload.
Also cute, though significantly larger, was Flocke’s Mom, Vera:Unfortunately the Zoo has embarked upon a rather odd tactic for its marketing campaign to woo Nuernbergers to come see Flocke; behold, one of the umpteen bus shelter posters to be found around town:Translation: Knut (the polar bear born in 2007 at the Berlin Zoo) is yesterday’s news, like Knut is so totally five minutes ago. As in, Knut, he’s all grown and no longer a cute widdle fuzzy wuzzy Eisbaerbaby, now he’s a full-grown polar bear just like all the others and could probably bite your head off, so who cares about Knut? COME SEE FLOCKE. Kind of a harsh message to put out there... that animals are no longer worth your while after they’re no longer widdle and cute. Alas, ageism strikes everywhere.

All that said, Flocke was indeed worth the trip. There were countless other lovely animals as well of course. And it was a beautiful day, sunny and gorgeous, and I was happy:

After the zoo expedition, I got to waddle about in Nuernberg. Many things were closed, as it was Pentecost. But it was an entirely pleasant day weatherwise and otherwise, city was lovely and in fine form, great walk through the center and up to the Kaiserburg. Here’s a shot of the placid Peignitz river:And a view from the heights of the Kaiserburg:A curiosity in the Hauptbahnhof - a whole world of wigs:On my way back to the airport back to Paris at the end of the day, I snuck a photo of this couple on the U-Bahn... they were just so ridiculously, cutely typisch-ly Bavarian looking, I couldn’t help myself......not quite as cute as Flocke, but almost. Maybe.