Weekend in Dublin -- Active Animals

The best zoo ever!  On Sunday, we visited the Dublin Zoo which was amazing.  The animal habitats are set up so that the animals are truly close to you, and we saw many animals engaged in eating and playing seemingly just for our benefit.  Liam thinks the animals are part circus-trained, since most times we came up to a cage or enclosure, the animals would put on a show right in front of us. I have never seen such active animals!

While watching the extended gorilla family, we saw two mamas cuddling and carrying their babies and a younger male tormenting his older sibling by jumping on him or slapping him as he ran past or flopping at his feet.  So entertaining!  And this happened over and over again, a lioness who roared in front of us, a red panda who snacked on his apple chunk, a tiger who made laps and stretched full-length along the wire enclosure, a monkey family who turned somersaults and chased each other.  We were really dazzled by the variety too -- from wolves to giraffes!  Also, the zoo was incredibly well-landscaped, so that as you walked along it was walking through gardens that just happened to have elephants behind the trees,  flamingos in the pond, and lemurs in the bushes.

Just a few of the photos the boys took of the zoo animals!

Remember when I said the British are very specific in their signs, well I think the Irish have them beat. Many things to avoid when interacting with the animals!

We hit Cobblestone Pub in the late afternoon to meet our cousins for a quick pint and to listen to some Irish music based on the recommendation of the Dickerson-Thompsons.  We liked it, but I think my Irish cousins found it a little rough around the edges.  I had a great time reconnecting with Susan Webb, who brought along her 18 year old daughter, Ellen -- so charming and poised and a real storyteller like the rest of the family -- it was a real pleasure seeing her as an almost grownup.  Then, a delicious Thai dinner at Camile and an early night to rest up for our last day in Dublin.