The Universal Word For Animals

According to Liam, that word is ZOO. We have taken him to the NC Zoo in Asheboro, NC; the Aloha Zoo (for all the retarded, broken, or otherwise unworthy-of-fancy-zoos animals) in Sanford, NC; the Nuremberg Zoo in Bayern, Deutschland; and now the Cartigliano Zoo in Veneto, Italia.

The NC Zoo had just about every animal you could wish for in a zoo. They organized their grounds based on the continents from which the animals originated, which I always thought was very smart.

The Aloha Zoo had a one-horned water buffalo, a crocodile with three legs, several animals that walked with unexplained limps, and a few household pets that didn't meet the owners' expectations (who in his right mind thinks a lemur will be well-behaved?).

The Nuremberg Zoo was like the German supermarket (or Supermarkt, if you prefer). Full of all kinds of things that you want but spread out in a completely nonsensical way so you can't really find what is on your list. After three (wait, maybe four?) times there, we still could never find the alligators. We completely missed the lions and tigers one time. The bird section went unnoticed another time.

We did catch the penguins every time, and they were definitely our favorites. You can see why right here:

Now, for the Italian Zoo. All I can think about right now is Stefano, the seal from the circus in Madagascar. ("No, no, no, no, I am only average intelligence. Some say I'm even slightly below.")

They had some animals. Weird ones. Lots of birds. Tiny yard spaces for the different species. A lot of the animals looked pretty miserable. But it was an adventure, nonetheless. Liam really wanted to see snakes and lizards. We found lizards right at the end but no snakes. Lots of birds. A few camels. A handful of lemurs and monkeys. Did I mention the birds? Lots of 'em.

See the pictures for yourself!