On the 28th of July 2017, the Biopsychology and the Avian Cognitive Neuroscience lab as well as our guests Olga Lazareva & Martin Acerbo (of course incl. Valerie) departed towards the Nuremberg zoo for our yearly retreat. Our friend and colleague Lorenzo von Fersen had invited us to use their facilities for our presentations on the question “What is it that you would like to discover in the next year(s)?” We started in the afternoon with a firework of presentations by diverse groups and individuals. In the evening we jointly visited the traditional restaurant Barfüßer to get accustomed to Bavarian food and kegs of Bavarian beer. On the next morning we had some more talks and then visited the zoo and could participate in an experiment on magnetic perception in dolphins. Towards the late afternoon we all travelled back to Bochum. Everybody deeply enjoyed our stay and we all were convinced that our next retreat should last one day longer.