beautiful garden | Tales from the Hutt

Friday, 07-June-2024

I really liked Tallinn. I bet I’d really like the rest of Estonia too, especially what I’ve heard of the forests and wild places, but for now I can definitely say that I really liked Tallinn.

I’m making a point to visit a lot of awesome places on this adventure, but I’m also making a point to go with the flow, and let myself smell the roses on the trails I set myself on. Kadrioru Park was a good example of succeeding in that goal – I was originally aiming for the Kumu Art Museum, but had to walk through Kadrioru to get there…

Which meant that I spent a few hours wandering an absolutely glorious city park!

The park is built around a massive palace built by Czar Peter the Great, and so it was this really interesting combination of a palace garden and a public park. There were causeways with huge flowing streams, flower gardens and broad walkways that were clearly intended for nobility to stroll around… but there were also semi-wild sections where you could be forgiven for almost forgetting that you were in the capital city.

Definitely a lovely park, and an excellent diversion on my way to the art museum!

(Ironic note – while writing this post, I learned that the palace build by Czar Peter the Great now houses it’s own art museum! So… I got distracted by an art museum on my way to an art museum. But didn’t go into the art museum, because I was going to the art museum. Ohh the trials and tribulations of Ben)

Wednesday, 22-May-2024

My first day in Oslo, I wandered.

My goal was the Oslo Natural History Museum, or the Naturhistorisk museum in the Norwegian parlance, but I wasn’t locked into getting there in any rush. Oslo was still new to me, and I was enjoying the opportunity to wander.

I’d had a coffee, sandwich, and smoothie earlier in the day and was feeling well fortified, so I set up directions on my phone, grabbed my satchel, and headed out the door.

Nearly to the museum, I realized that it was guarded by one of the most effective barriers in existence against a member of my family… a garden. An expansive garden, full of beautiful flowers and interesting greenhouses. Those clever devils, they knew how to distract me from my destination! How was our hero going to get past this blockade??

I mean, I wasn’t in a rush.

I got past the cleverly-placed blockade simply by walking something like 5 miles, wandering into every corner of the gardens that I could find. Through outdoor pathways, paved and gravel, I wandered and appreciated the views and the smells. Through greenhouses, I ogled massive lily pads and sweat in the heat of a simulated Arizona desert. I saw a pineapple, and the biggest pitchers I’ve ever seen on a pitcher plant.

It was awesome.