Bongo the baby gorilla

My good-weather luck ran out today. And what a string it was! Eleven straight days of cloudless skies and unseasonable temperatures in the 70s. But temps have crashed 30 degrees and rain now falls steadily.

Before the storm hit, I ventured forth in search of some Hungarian countryside cuisine. At highly recommended Alfoldi Vendeglo in central Pest, I ordered the ropogos libacomb burgonya parolt kaposzta. Maybe I’m just sick of my own cooking, but after the first couple bites I started thinking, let’s play two!


The menu had no translations, but my belly does: roasted goose with warm pickled cabbage and potatoes mashed with onions. Bet I’m close! Dessert was a bouncy, citrusy, unsweetened Hungarian cake made from a stringy cheese. I'm in!


Four thousand calories later, I wandered aimlessly around this Kalvin Ter-area neighborhood, which has lots of retro shops featuring Hungarian-designed stuff. I need to be less intent on seeing things and just stroll. It felt great.


Before the deluge, I also visited the Budapest Zoo, where a baby gorilla named Bongo lives. Don’t think I need to say more.

With that, a list of the world’s 10 greatest-to-crappiest zoos, starting with the best:

1. Pineridge Zoo, south of Grand Bend, Ontario. Renowned for its North American ape exhibit and unparalleled pigeon-and-rabbit enclosure. Sadly, now closed.
2. Apenheul Primate Park, outside Apeldoorn, Netherlands. No cages; just you and the apes. Monkey-proof bags and spray bottles optional.
3. San Diego Zoo. Bonobos galore.
4. Berlin Zoo. Knut.
5. St. Louis Zoo. Beats me; heard it’s swell.
6. Budapest Zoo. Bongo.
7. Every other zoo.
8. Any zoo yet to be built.
9. Reid Park Zoo, Tucson. Where giraffes are fed poisonous oleander leaves and die.
10. Arizona-Snoring Desert Museum. A bromide for insomniacs.