|
Zoos are slowly updating their whole basic concepts and doing major construction to make better and more varied enclosures etc. but obviously that costs a lot of money and takes time, so they do it bit by bit and you're bound to turn the corner from a newly opened state-of-the-art artifical savannah or whatever and run into a stained old concrete cube with tiny cages with a sign saying basically "yeah, we know, this is next in line for rebuilding  "You can also tell that there's one design paradigm that gets adopted everywhere. Every zoo I've been to in recent memory had the same kind of tropical climate bird-and-reptile dome and a pathway running between enclosures styled after an Indian village. e: Amsterdam does have Micropia, that's pretty unique. shamefully tiny enclosures though
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2023 21:18
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 11:44 |
|
|
I was gonna say don't support zoos Unless you're in Omaha or San Diego I guess
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2023 21:21
|
|
|
I was pleasantly surprised by the miami zoo, or whatever it's called. It's on roughly half of what used to be a air force base so all the pens are very large. Haven't been there is almost 15 years though.
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2023 21:41
|
|
|
Amsterdam zoo at least doesn't offer any meat products on their restaurant and food stand menus anymore. In the Netherlands there's also the Apenheul. It's a monkey park, but you walk right among the monkeys. They'll climb on you, steal your food if you don't package it carefully, and piss on you as well. Fun for the whole family. Many years ago I discovered that Lille in northern France has a city park which in the middle has a small zoo that's completely free to enter.
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2023 22:37
|
|
|
My Lovely Horse posted:Zoos are slowly updating their whole basic concepts and doing major construction to make better and more varied enclosures etc. but obviously that costs a lot of money and takes time, so they do it bit by bit and you're bound to turn the corner from a newly opened state-of-the-art artifical savannah or whatever and run into a stained old concrete cube with tiny cages with a sign saying basically "yeah, we know, this is next in line for rebuilding Lmao I also felt bad watching the research assistent enclosure. They don’t even get a window!
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2023 23:19
|
|
|
What do you guys think of the London zoo? We may have a day there with nothing scheduled.
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2023 01:10
|
|
|
Me, wife and kids are going to be visiting Italy (Venice, Florence, Rome) in June and could use some suggestions for activities/venues that will allow us to experience something outside of museums and historical sites. Right now we have Venice pretty squared and would like novel ideas for experiences in Rome and Florence. I suggested looking for a local football game and could use some suggestions. Flavor of actual life in Italy that sort of thing...
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2023 04:23
|
|
|
Ammanas posted:I suggested looking for a local football game and could use some suggestions. This thread could help with that. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=0&threadid=4009830&perpage=40&pagenumber=5#pti16
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2023 10:00
|
|
|
The last round of the Serie A is around the 4th of June. Lower division qualification matches will run later into June but its impossible to predict what will be on offer then
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2023 11:01
|
|
|
WithoutTheFezOn posted:What do you guys think of the London zoo? We may have a day there with nothing scheduled. London Zoo is one of the better zoos, and visiting funds tons of really important research and conservation activities. I also think there might be better stuff to do for a day in a major city than visiting the zoo. Personal preference, of course.
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2023 19:14
|
|
|
Bollock Monkey posted:I also think there might be better stuff to do for a day in a major city than visiting the zoo. Personal preference, of course. depends if you come from a place where zoos aren't much of a thing
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2023 19:44
|
|
|
Ammanas posted:Me, wife and kids are going to be visiting Italy (Venice, Florence, Rome) in June and could use some suggestions for activities/venues that will allow us to experience something outside of museums and historical sites. Right now we have Venice pretty squared and would like novel ideas for experiences in Rome and Florence. I suggested looking for a local football game and could use some suggestions. I got hammered with a family that owned a vineyard north of Florence while it was closed to the public. They made a fire and gave us food and just everyone got blasted. All because one of the girls we were with sold a lot of their chianti in her fancy New York restaurant she worked. I don't know how you replicate this experience but boy oh boy do I recommend trying lol
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2023 22:19
|
|
|
I have not been international since the pandemic started and I've finally been called to Zurich for a work meeting. Afterward I would like to see something interesting and I have already seen quite a bit of Switzerland. I am thinking of one of two options: Fly from Zurich to Vienna (~1.5 hour flight) and spend ~4 days there. Take a train from Zurich to Vienna (~11 hour ride), enjoy the views, but have less time in Vienna. Also an overnight in Liechtenstein would be possible. Is the train ride worth it? I may also have a second meeting later this year and I could go for Prague that time. Any destination recommendations that are inexpensive to get to from Zurich are welcome.
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2023 22:51
|
|
|
Uh isn't that train ride like consistently rated one of the most iconic and jaw dropping train rides for scenery in all of Europe? found this https://www.bigworldsmallpockets.com/vienna-to-zurich-train/
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2023 23:03
|
|
|
from the border with Liechtenstein to dozens of miles east of Innsbruck, you're in the Inn valley. There are prominent mountains on both sides, particularly to the north.
Ferdinand Bardamu fucked around with this message at 23:09 on Mar 16, 2023 |
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2023 23:06
|
|
|
There's also the night train, private compartments are pretty nice if you've got the funds. https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/ideas/offer.html/staedtereisen/vienna
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2023 00:27
|
|
|
Bollock Monkey posted:I also think there might be better stuff to do for a day in a major city than visiting the zoo. Personal preference, of course.
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2023 13:53
|
|
|
kiimo posted:I got hammered with a family that owned a vineyard north of Florence while it was closed to the public. They made a fire and gave us food and just everyone got blasted. All because one of the girls we were with sold a lot of their chianti in her fancy New York restaurant she worked. its gonna be pretty funny cuz im the only drinker in the family hashtag burden hashtag embrassment
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2023 21:29
|
|
|
Vaduz is like if Sargans had a prince in the fortress and a casino
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2023 01:09
|
|
|
Greg12 posted:Vaduz is like if Sargans had a prince in the fortress and a casino Vaduz is on par with Brunei as the most boring capital city I’ve ever visited. Four hours in the afternoon felt like about enough. Lichtenstein and Vatican are the only two countries I’ve visited and not spent a night in, and I doubt that’s going to change
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2023 08:19
|
|
|
webmeister posted:Vaduz is on par with Brunei as the most boring capital city I’ve ever visited. Four hours in the afternoon felt like about enough. We spent 10 days in Balzers, the south of Lichtenstein. Great spot. Much cheaper than being in Switzerland. You can do (with a car) day trips to Neuschwanstein Castle or Geneva alike. But yes, excellent analogy as I also racked off out of Brunei as soon as I could once I arrived (to Kota Kinabalu which was a good shout).
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2023 10:26
|
|
|
webmeister posted:Vaduz is on par with Brunei as the most boring capital city I’ve ever visited. Four hours in the afternoon felt like about enough. You never know! Unless you've spent nights there already, San Marino and Andorra might be one and done's depending on your interests. I've done day trips to San Marino and Andorra (from Ravenna and Barcelona) and was satisfied that I had seen everything I wanted to. And unless I get a huge cash influx, I will never spend a night in Monaco. Have visited several times, but always stayed in Nice.
|
|
#
?
Mar 18, 2023 21:40
|
|
|
Actually I forgot Monaco, I haven’t spent a night there either. Andorra is probably okay during winter but I’m not a skiier, so in the summer it’s basically the worlds largest duty free store for French and Spanish day trippers. San Marino is the pick of the bunch, with a cool old town and castle, but yeah one night was totally enough.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2023 04:10
|
|
|
My wife and I are doing two weeks in the UK in late June, mostly between London and Edinburgh. What are some must sees in general for some Americans who’ve not been to the UK before? Itinerary: Arrive 6/22 in London Travel to Cambridge to visit a friend til 6/25 6/26 to 6/28 - Edinburgh 6/29 to 7/2 - London
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2023 20:10
|
|
|
do you have any particular reason to go to edinburgh, because just spending two days there seems like a waste of time to go across the country like that
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2023 22:44
|
|
|
Yeah that's a long way to go almost as far as you possibly can. Edinburgh's nice but you could easily find enough to do just in London for that amount of time. I recommend museums and galleries. They're free to enter - not sure if you still have to book, I know there were covid restrictions at the time. The National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery are right on Trafalgar Square. also do not be afraid of doing stuff in London because it seems 'touristy' or like the stuff everyone does. That stuff is popular for a reason. Restaurant recommendation: Tokyo Diner just off Leicester Square.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2023 23:06
|
|
|
it's also right before the Edinburgh Festival so accommodation is going to be really expensive
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2023 23:38
|
|
|
Julio Cruz posted:it's also right before the Edinburgh Festival so accommodation is going to be really expensive Oh god yeah that's true. That is NOT worth it then. Go literally anywhere else. If you wanna go to Scotland just go somewhere else in Scotland. Edinburgh will be a nightmare.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2023 23:39
|
|
|
HopperUK posted:Oh god yeah that's true. That is NOT worth it then. Go literally anywhere else. If you wanna go to Scotland just go somewhere else in Scotland. Edinburgh will be a nightmare. What’s the Edinburgh festival? I saw that there was something in August but that’s a solid month after we’ll have been there. As to the earlier question of why Edinburgh, it came as a recommendation from a friend.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2023 01:03
|
|
|
A Dapper Walrus posted:What’s the Edinburgh festival? I saw that there was something in August but that’s a solid month after we’ll have been there. https://www.edfringe.com/ Fringe is an international arts and comedy festival. Think SXSW without tech bros.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2023 01:16
|
|
|
A Dapper Walrus posted:What are some must sees in general for some Americans who’ve not been to the UK before? Can't speak for Edinburgh (I'm with the "stay in London" crowd on this one), but assuming you're staying in central London:
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2023 09:06
|
|
|
If you want to get out of London there are good options a short train ride away, Oxford, Cambridge, Bath are all fairly accessible and have a different feel to London.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2023 10:29
|
|
|
Drone posted:London's packed full of museums, pick something and go. The Victoria & Albert is fantastic, the Natural History Museum nearby is also great and is almost more impressive for the architecture than for the exhibits, the National Gallery is super central and free. Tate, British Museum, on and on.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2023 11:06
|
|
|
Also very good: the British Library is right next to St Pancras station. And the Victoria & Albert Childhood Museum is amazing if you're interested in the history of toys and childhood or would like to see some huge old dollhouses.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2023 11:12
|
|
|
HopperUK posted:Also very good: the British Library is right next to St Pancras station. And the Victoria & Albert Childhood Museum is amazing if you're interested in the history of toys and childhood or would like to see some huge old dollhouses. I believe the latter is closed til this summer
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2023 12:19
|
|
|
Don’t waste your money and time on an Oyster card, just use your NFC payment card
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2023 16:17
|
|
|
webmeister posted:Vaduz is on par with Brunei as the most boring capital city I’ve ever visited. Four hours in the afternoon felt like about enough. Liechtenstein is OK. In winter there's a small but very cheap (for the area) skiing area in Malbun that is fun for one day, and in summer there's a fair amount of nice hiking, exactly as in Switzerland. It's plenty nice, albeit it's identical in every way to Swiss German-speaking Alpine Switzerland, except that Liechtenstein's normal car license plates look like Swiss military license plates (black). If you like hiking you could easily spend 3 or 4 days there, although the same could be said for literally every town in the Alps. Otherwise, uhh... Vaduz has an okay modern art museum, and you can get a visa stamp at the tourist office. Honestly Liechtenstein has more going for it than some of the Swiss cantons. I'd pick 3 days in Triesenberg over 3 days anywhere in Jura, Aargau, or Solothurn, supposing I was locked within the provincial boundaries for those entire 3 days. I wouldn't go out of my way for it but it's a very short detour on the way for a lot of Alpine itineraries.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2023 17:24
|
|
|
The London to Glasgow sleeper train service was pretty good twenty years ago. It goes to Edinburgh and other places, too: https://www.sleeper.scot/timetables/ With the sleeper, you're getting a night of accommodation along with your travel, and you're not spending any waking hours in line at airports.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2023 17:54
|
|
|
for £300 I'd rather get a flight and a hotel room bigger than a jail cell
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2023 19:47
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 11:44 |
|
|
Thank you all for the recommendations! We're going to try and iron out the Edinburgh leg of the trip, but with all the London recs we should have a lot to fill the time with.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2023 23:11
|
|