Berlin Sea Life

Hi! I'm continuing with the Merlin Pass. Yesterday I gave you the run down on Legoland and so today it's Sea Life.

Sea Life is next to Alexanderplatz, so it's very easy to reach by public transport! It's a small aquarium but still a nice place to go for an hour!

  

There are lots of fish to see, all types of sizes and colours. There are some tanks that you can see from above, which is fun for the kids to actually see the fish without it being through glass!

Rafael and Giulia enjoy the area where you can put your hand in and the fish come to you. I had to put my hand in with him to convince him they wouldn't bite! :D

Their favourite part are the mirrors...trust me, you need to put your hands in front to make sure you don't hit a mirror! It's even fun for the adults!

Where is the real Giulia and the real Rafael? hahahaha

The corridor is also fun because you can see the fish swimming all around you and see the sting rays from below (their faces are so funny!) Also because just before you go in there is a place where you glow! The kids think that is great!

After you leave the Aquarium you go across to the Aquadom- it's a glass elevator that goes up inside a huge big fish tank so you can see all the fish swimming around while you go up and down! It's included if you have the pass. If you buy a day ticket you have to get the ticket that includes the Aquadom!

We have been a few times to Sea Life and the kids enjoy it, but you can go in and out within an hour, especially once you've been through a few times! They go straight to the things they like and then they are ready to leave!

Legoland Discovery Centre- Postdamer Platz

We arrived in Berlin in February, it was cold, very cold, especially for us as we were coming from summer in Rio (average temperatures of 40 degrees!) so we wanted to find fun things to do indoors! :D

My 7 year old LOVES lego, and lets face it, what 7 year old doesn't!! Lego is fantastic! Even my 3 year old enjoys playing with her 'lego' duplo! When I was in Rio and researching our move to Berlin the Legoland Discovery Centre caught my eye straight away so I arrived already planning our visit! The more I researched the more I realised that the Merlin annual pass was the way to go!! I know, right...me and my annual passes!!! So, you can do an annual pass just for Legoland OR the Merlin which includes Sea Life, Madame Tussauds and also Berlin Dungeon (the only one we haven't done yet!). I love me a special deal/discount/voucher/offer and I'll research until I find the best option! So, there I was 'googling' it and found it- €50 per person for the pass. This is a good deal for all 4 places in Berlin AND several other places around Germany, such as Legoland Theme Park and Heide Park (which we still have to visit also!) As with the zoos we had the option to go in and check it out before we decided on the pass, but we knew it would be a winner!!

Sure enough it was!! My kids love it!! There are lots of things to do!

As soon as you arrive and go down the stairs there is a Mini Berlin built with Lego!! It's interactive...you can press the buttons and see the train going round, the balloon going up and the wall coming down (with music being played too!)

Then you come to the 'Hollywood Red Carpet!! No matter how many times we go the kids love taking photos with the characters! There is Harry Potter, Sponge Bob plus the ones in the photo and a few others!

There are two 'rides' - but more for smaller kids. The dragon ride is a slow ride with no thrill but my 3 year old loves it!! The other ride is also a no thrill ride, but there is a height restriction, so she can't go on it yet!

There is a 4D cinema, which the kids enjoy - there are sessions in English, but you have to ask what time! Rafael watches it in German even if he doesn't understand because it's a short film and usually funny and easy enough to follow just with the images!

On our first trip we did the factory tour (a small tour given to show how they make lego and at the end everyone gets a piece of lego to take as a memory! The tour is given in German and the kids enjoyed watching even if they didn't understand what was being said!

There is another area to build cars and test them on the ramps, yes, as you can imagine Rafael loves this part and even my husband. This is ideal for the older kids (or kids at heart!)

There is a great play area and my kids love spending their energy there!! It doesn't matter how many times we go, they don't get tired of playing there! It's great when it's rainy and cold to let the kids have somewhere to run around!

There is still so much. There is a sofa with a tv to watch lego friends episodes together with a place to make 'lego cupcakes'! Giulia sits there and builds cupcakes and then brings them to us to eat! Giulliano and I have found a very comfy sofa that we sit on and let the kids run around playing! They know where we are and come back every so often to check we haven't escaped! :D  There are several areas for smaller kids too including these giant soft lego pieces that the kids enjoy using to build forts and castles!

The Ninjago play area is also fun, but on a smaller scale and Rafa enjoyed the laser challenge!

On our way out the kids enjoy watching the NASA rocket launch- there is a clock with a count down! There is an interactive area there too! In fact everything is VERY interactive. It's all hands on. They encourage the kids to climb, press buttons, build, create and have lots of fun!

There is a small coffee shop inside that offers snacks and drinks and also you can buy the photo from the dragon ride! We bought the slushie refil cup and with the annual passes we have 10% discount which means we only pay 1,35 to refil the cup! The kids already know that when we are heading out to Legoland to grab the cup from the cupboard

There is a workshop also, but since it's in German the kids haven't ventured there yet, but in time I'm sure they will!! With so much choice there is a lot of fun to be had! We have already made the most of the pass. Sometimes we just go there for an hour and then come home! Now during the holidays we cycle there, it's only about a 10min walk from where we live!

This is definitely one of the kid's favourite places in Berlin and I'm sure when the winter comes again we'll be there on the weekends to stay warm!

Berlin Aquarium (not be be confused with Sea Life)

I'm so happy to see people are enjoying the blog. I added some new options, like translating it to Portuguese for those who can't read it in English. I know that google translator isn't perfect, but it's better than nothing!

So, today I'm going to round up the annual pass with the Berlin Aquarium. The entrance is next to the Berlin Zoo- but you can buy either a separate or joint ticket. I took the kids the other day when Rafael started his summer holidays. This time we went in the morning before lunch, got the bus there, which in itself is already half the fun! My kids love riding the top floor of the double decker buses! The nice thing about riding the bus is being able to see the city as we get from A to B (and my kids point out other places that they want to go to!)

So, the aquarium is beautiful and big - 3 floors! The kids loved looking at all the different fish...so many beautiful colours, different shapes and sizes, funny looking fish and really scary ones too!

There is a section on reptiles and another for insects- made Rafa's day! Turtles, snakes, scorpions, stick insects, ants, coakroaches, lizards etc! He loved looking at all the weird, nasty looking insects.

There is a large area for the crocodiles, but it was being refurbished also so have to go back to see that again! (What is it with them refurbishing everything in the holidays?!

The aquarium is all about looking, there is nothing interactive, so it's great for an hour or two, but then the kids want something more- which is great because the zoo is joined onto the aquarium so you can go to the playground- remember, that really big one with hours and hours of fun?!!!

There is a cafe inside the aquarium, but again we went prepared with a snack and bought a portion of chips in the zoo restaurant after I gave in to playing in the playground for an hour! It is holidays after all!!!