The famous Duisburg gourmet lunch.......never yet surpassed for sheer lack of inspiration.......still......it obviously wasn't the purpose of the visit, and the dolphin more than made up for it!!
I hate to say this, but your avatar makes you look like a liar... I must be unusual because I very rarely eat in zoos, even on full days. I either take sandwiches or graze on snacks, with maybe a meal on my way home or just skip food entirely if it's a half day visit. I do enjoy liquid refreshments at nearly every zoo as I like to contribute to the running costs. If it helps I tend to drink things with yeast in so technically it can be called liquid bread!
Brum at the zoo entrance: "Do you have pangolins here?" "Yes, we have several species." "Excellent! Do you serve beer?" "No, we're a zoo." "Then I'm not coming in!"
The best zoo food I had was in Detroit in 2014. They were baked potato fries; fresh French fries with cheese, sour cream, chives, and bacon. I was so disappointed when I couldn't find them last year. Just got lousy hot dogs.
In Chicago our zoo has both . In America there are plenty of zoos that do serve beer, in limited quantities of course.
This is a huge pet peeve of mine (poor food options in zoos). In fact I started a similar thread several years ago here: Zoo Restaurants. However I think the topic is worth revisiting at this time. I have not been to zoos all over the world, but I have been to about a dozen in western Europe and several dozen in the United States (just over 100 total). I can say this based on my experience: zoos in Europe have far better cafes than zoos in the United States. There are some good ones in the USA, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Thankfully for me the best I have seen is in my own city at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. My city's other zoo (Reid Park Zoo) reportedly started offering a better menu within the last couple years but I have not eaten there since that time. One of the worst examples is the newly built cafe at Phoenix Zoo, which you can read about in my comments on this photo: new cafe interior | ZooChat
I hate to say this, but my avatar was taken over two years ago now, before the effects of walking away from the dance world had really kicked in - my reduction in exercise and increase in food intake has since taken its toll, and I’m now three stones heavier, and the fattest I have ever been in my life! But food is just too good!
The restauraunt near the entrance at Tierpark Berlin has a card thing which starts beeping when your food is done, best idea ever.
All the more reason to find ever-increasing numbers of zoological collections to visit I don't have the notebook at hand where I recorded the precise distances I walked during my Czech trip in 2017 (including walking to and from the collections where appropriate) but I know I managed something like 35,000 steps during the day I visited Prague Zoo. Even this pales into comparison when compared with my two days at Tierpark Berlin! It's a bloody good thing I walk pretty much everywhere, to be honest, given the fact I am a very big eater!
35,000 steps! Wow! My record is 28,000 at the San Diego zoo which is a huge zoo, so that makes me wonder just how big Prague zoo is.
Well, note I said "including walking to and from the collections where appropriate" - Prague Zoo is pretty big (140 acres compared to the 100 acres of San Diego Zoo) but that total was further increased by the fact that we walked 4 miles to the zoo from the city centre through a number of large parks and woodland areas, with the intention of getting a "feel" for the city As opposed to getting a U-Bahn from the station directly outside of Tierpark?
Unfortunately, I’m really not! I’ve spent so much of my life being involved in a highly superficial world where looks are absolutely everything and being beautiful is a deal breaker; where self tan, hair dye, false eyelashes, nail extensions, makeup, Botox, lip fillers, teeth whitening and killer abs are just the norm - so this is quite far removed from what I’m used to, and I can’t say I’m a fan! I’m with you on this! The most exercise I get now is definitely on zoo days. I plan to do quite a lot of walking during my Czech Trip, as I will walk to many of the collections as you did. I put on a stone just since I got my car, as I went from walking everywhere to driving everywhere. I really need to call it a day and start losing some of this weight now, and maybe this upcoming trip will be a real help towards that!
I need to get fitter, as I have joint issues which make prolonged zoo visits hard work. I should get a pedometer as it would be interesting to see how much I do walk and perhaps to encourage improvement. I was at Bristol Zoo today and did walk past the new restaurant there, but we actually took sandwiches for once (unheard of!) so did not try it out. It was, being a sunny Saturday at the end of half term, ridiculously busy at the zoo. I am not good in crowds.
Depending on whereabouts in Prague you are staying, I reckon walking to Prague Zoo would be a pretty good way to start - as noted above the walk from the city centre largely passes through a number of quite pleasant parks and woodland areas. The fact that a large chunk of the zoo itself is quite steep - even moreso than Edinburgh Zoo, for reference - will also help
Yes, I plan to do some walking for Prague, Decin, Usti, Hodonin and Jihlava. Sounds like I might be in some considerable pain after Prague! Maybe there’s still time to get to the gym before I go!
