I kind of love the Artis, the Amsterdam Zoo. Maybe I love all zoos but don't think to visit them unless I'm actively exploring a new city, or maybe it's just an especially nice example. Maybe my proximity to it—my building is across the street from the zoo's southeast corner—gives me more of a sense of fraternity or ownership.
Whatever the reason, I love the Artis. It's somehow comforting to know that all those mischevious otters, sleepy monkeys, exuberant sea lions, and fearless butterflies are there, across the canal and beyond the fence I bike past every day, going about their artificial yet seemingly carefree lives.
What's less good about those little guys is their aroma.
It's only been really noticeable in the past week or so (when, incidentally, the weather has turned clear but cold), but the Artis smells like the cages of a thousand chinchillas, plus the swiftly decomposing bodies of a million fish. It's a smell that the wind seems unable to carry: once you pass the far corner of the zoo the air is fresh and springy again, but for that one block, the scent is overwhelming.
One of the gorillas has a blog, which I'm currently trolling for answers to this redolent mystery.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Does that gorilla write his blog in Dutch or Afrikaans?
Post a Comment