On Sunday we took the train up to the Melbourne Zoo. I had read it was the most "conventional" of the three zoos in our area, and I thought that might translate into underwhelming. False. The Melbourne Zoo is probably the best zoo I have ever been to, not counting of course the Wild Animal Safari in Springfield. That's just on another level entirely. But the Melbourne Zoo comes close. For one thing, the animals seemed much happier and more active than at any of the zoos I have been to. Most of the time, at least in my experience, you walk up to the glass and struggle to find whatever animal is in the cage, finally spotting some fluffy ball in the very top corner sleeping behind a rock. Entirely underwhelming in my opinion. That's why this zoo was so great. The animals were often sitting right next to the glass, like these monkeys: