Prague; Monday, 19 December, 2016

As it was a Monday quite a few sites in Prague were closed, although not everything. After breakfast, I made my way up to the north of the city and the zoo.

The zoo is located on the North bank of the river and located over a large rocky outcrop with parts of the zoo down on the lower level near the river and other parts located high up on the top of the rock – with some animals such as the mountain goats, taking advantage of the cliff face for their home.

My first views of the zoo were that it was quite dated with quite a few small enclosures and several instances of seeing animals pacing up and down in their cages, but this turned out to be only a small un-refurbished part of the zoo with many of the other themed areas having large spaces for animals to move around in – though in mid-December in Central Europe the big cats were quite happy to remain in their heated indoor quarters.

I spent most of the day wandering around the zoo taking in the various animal pavilions and exhibits. I just about managed to see everything, though the time in the Gorilla Pavilion – the last I visited- was limited as on the dot of 16:00 they announced the zoo was now closed and started ushering everyone towards the exit.

I caught the bus and tram back into the centre of town and wandered down to the Old Town Square to have a look around the Christmas Market – and to pick up a few last-minute items. I also stopped off to sample some of the local Christmas food.

From the Old Town Square I wandered back to the hotel to freshen up (and to drop my shopping off) before heading back out for a very light dinner and then back to start packing my new bag ready for the journey home the following day.