Week twenty-five

The English weather.  The poor sodding English weather.  Its one thing you can never rely on, which is a real shame since Londoners, with the best intentions try very hard to organise great outdoor activities during the summer months.    A lot of them work too - Taste of London for example is probably my favourite event that happens in the whole year, but even that in the pouring rain isn't much fun.  You can see where I'm going with this.

Late Nights at London Zoo is every Friday night throughout June and July.  No kids allowed.  Alcohol is.  It sounds like a lot of fun.  It boasts various bars, food stalls, barbecue, picnics and animal demonstrations.  But none of it is all that fun when its pouring and unfortunately for me and my friend Naomi, both in our pristine white canvas trainers it was to be an evening of avoiding eye-poking from umbrellas and general drenching of well, everything.

However, its Britain, therefore we power on through and ignore the sopping and the dripping.  The problem for me is that, I'm not sure that the sunshine would have made all that difference - yes it would have been nice frolicking in between enclosures but there's just nothing special about Late Nights - its not really any different to during the day - well, no - I think I'm being a bit harsh.

Was I expecting more?  Perhaps. We arrived and just through the entrance are a whole host of yummy food stalls ranging from Ghanian to Jamaican, to Korean and Mexican.  Then there are various bars to buy mojitos or champagne or whatever you want.  There's a silent disco - but I would much rather see how the animals respond to a bit of music  - I bet they'd go nuts for a bit of feel good music by James Brown!  Finally there is a Twisted Cabaret where various artists perform and actually a welcome addition where you can get off your feet for a little amusement.

But, I guess we're all there to see the animals and some of them are fantastic, the coolest of which are probably the penguins.  I love penguins, they are awesome and unexpected creatures.  They waddle when they walk and yet are super fast when they swim.  Plus they represent the essence of companionship, constantly walking in line behind one other. 

We certainly weren't starved for seeing animals.  There is definitely a great range here, even though there are now no elephants or rhinos.  I don't think even the animals were fans of the rain as lots of them were just huddling under shelter like these alpacas.

None of the animals looked particularly happy and I think my ultimate qualm with all of this is that I'm not sure I really like zoos.  I'm not a fan of seeing animals in cages and confined spaces.  Yes, I realise immediately that I'm a total loon for then including London Zoo in one of my weeks but the "Late Nights" lured me in and its something different to do - which is the whole point of my blog.  I don't have to like everything I go to and plus this is something that loads of other people would really enjoy.

Its not cheap at £18.50 a ticket but you do get to see some really cool animals and without the stress of screaming kids either.  After work its nice to be able to walk around with an alcoholic drink while checking out all the animals so its not all bad.  Plus the gift shop is spectacular and if nothing else it was worth it just to try on these fabulous hats.

If you do fancy going to Late Nights at London Zoo you can buy tickets and find out all the details here. Next week is going to be a most spectacular weekend of music with Take That at Wembley and Wireless at Hyde Park.  The sun will shine.  I will get invited out with Take That.  Oh yes.  I will.