Day 10; The Nuernberg Tiergarten (Zoo) (9 May 2009)

This was a relaxing Saturday!

After sleeping in 30 minutes longer, and the usual ample breakfast, we headed of to Murk, to shop! June ended up getting a lot more dresses, skirts and blouses than me (actually, I got no dresses, skirts and blouses) but I did get a very nice leather vest, and a casual summer sports jacket in a bleached canvas-like fabric.

Then into Nuernberg, to the zoo.This is a place very familiar to me from my childhood, but the last time I visited was in (I think) 1979. I still think it is one of the better zoos in the world.In the south-east of Nuernberg, it is readily accessible on the public transit streetcar net, and if you arrive by car there is ample and free parking. From the parking lots it is a pleasant walk through a mature forest to the entrance.

A bit of back-story on this zoo. Build in the 1930's as a replacement for an earlier zoo, it is located in an area of old quaries from which came the sandstone used to build most of mediaeval Nuernberg. These cover several square miles, and the actual quarries have been used to create animal enclosures that look very natural. All the grounds are covered with mature mixed forests, and so the entire impression is one of seeing animals in their natural habitat. We only had an afternoon, so we probably only walked less than 1/3 of the trails among the exhibits. Nothing exotic or unusual enough that you wouldn't see at the Metro (Toronto) Zoo, except perhaps the now 1 year old polar bear cub Flocke (Snowflake), but the setting is much less artificial.

Another difference, food, and drink is available at several places within the zoo, and none of it is fast-food (eg. no McDonald’s!) and the prices and quality are what you would expect at any other (German) restaurant. One other difference; the food and drink are served on real plates, in real glasses, with real cutlery, and there is a substantial deposit on these. When you are finished eating, you return your china, glasses and cutlery, and you get your deposit back. A neat way of ensuring civilized dining, without incurring excessive costs.

After the zoo, we headed back to Pommersfelden, to the Hotel "Gruener Baum" and had a very excellent meal of "bio" food, ie. food that has no hormonal additives nor chemical pesticides used in its growing, and a very pleasant conversation with our hosts, the Hofmann's, whose family has run this hotel for over 500 years. Then to pack up, in preparation for tomorrow's drive south, and sleep.