Is Max Alive?: Going To Foreign Zoos

Short story: Claire and I napped and then went to Djurgården where we enjoyed the sites of the Skansen open air museum, and spent most of our time exploring the zoo.
---

Sleep has been an important feature of this trip, as I imagine it is for most trans-atlantic travelers. Today, I slept five hours later than I had the previous day (meaning that I woke up at an obscenely late 10:30am). Yesterday, I wound up taking a four hour nap.

This nap was vital to the events that followed since it gave both me and Claire the energy necessary to tour the expansive Skansen open-air museum on the idyllic island of Djurgården.

I would compare Djurgården to Belle Isle in Detroit, except much much nicer. The island boasts a series of museums and other attractions -- many of which are left over from a 19th century World's Fair that was held on the island.

Foremost among the attractions is Skansen, which I had assumed to be a massive sculpture garden of some sort. However, Greenfield Village at the Henry Ford Museum is a far more accurate parallel. Skansen has several old-timey attractions, and examples of old Scandinavian architecture dotting the landscape.

Skansen is also noted for having the only zoo in Stockholm. Though it is modest, it is also quite charming. We first visited the aquarium which was also where the designers decided to house several primate exhibits -- most impressively a room full of ring-tailed lemurs.

From there we drifted around the park seeing bears, lynx, european bison, wild boars, wolves, and "elk moose." Particularly impressive were some old farm steads set up with fences made of birch branches and secured with strips of bark. We ended at the top of a hill with a beautiful view of the city.

After a quick tram ride and walk, we ended our day with dinner in Gamla Stan.
---

It was a great time, but one that thoroughly exhausted us. Fortunately, today was a rainy day and we spent it sleeping and mooching around the island of Lidinö.

I took some time to add more photos and captions to the ones in the album, so enjoy the ones below and take a look back through the ones from earlier in the week as well.

We've only got one more day, but I'm certain we'll make the best of it.
---