At the zoo

We have a year ticket to korkeasaari zoo. We go there every once in a while. Now we decided to pay the zoo a visit on christmas day. That's a good place to walk off all the extra you ate on christmas eve.

When we got there we found out that there was a special route for children in Korkeasaari for christmas time called the stable gnome's route. How I enjoyed it! As a daughter of an artist I can really appreciate things that demand imagination. I'm not sure if the kids enjoyed it as much as I did.

There were signs like this showing the route all the way around the island. Each one was different even though there were many of them. On the route there were also signs where the stable gnome or the girl gnome of the island told about some of the animals and how they have helped them. There were also few tasks for children to fill on a paper (like weighing animal horns, figuring out which hair goes to which animal). What I liked the most was the little scenes that had been built on the route showing the gnomes home, secret garden, kitchen, sauna etc. Look the pictures:

The girl gnome's kitchen

her secret garden
Indoors picture of the boat in which the stable gnome can go around the island

the stable gnome's forge shop

His sauna

The stable home
His skis.

At the end of the tour the girl gnome and the stable gnome had a fancy dinner at the zoo restaurant. The setting was beautiful but my camera's battery was already dead by that time.

I really like Korkeasaari. Most of it is outdoors but there are few houses too. I like walking there. In the summertime the garden looks beautiful and even in wintertime one can enjoy the good work of the gardenists. here is just one example.

Even though we visit Korkeasaari quite regurlarly there is always something new to see or experience. This time the male lion decided to play with our children fortunately through the glass. Exhibitions are quite big and well taken care of except for birds. I think they should have bigger exhibitions. Anyway I like it. And the stable gnome's route was such a special treat for me! Especially when the weather was just perfect. it snowing without wind big snowflakes. This picture is taken from the island towards the downtown Helsinki. Background you can see two ice-brakers waiting for their work season to come. girls enjoying the animal figures on the way to the zoo island.
Me and girls looking how teddy bears are in winter sleep in an very old bear cage. I'm wearing my favourite hat from Peru.