Today we met at the botanical garden for a tour of the greenhouses. There were originally 35 greenhouses, but 9 were destroyed in WWII. Posted prominently in one of the greenhouses is a photo of the people that cared and protected the plants during the war.
Let's just get this out of the way....Andrew, Jim and I agreed that this was pretty much the most impressive indoor collections of plants we've ever seen. 26 greenhouses, each expertly maintained and arranged taxonomically and/or geographically. I'll just let the photos speak for themselves.
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| Front entrance of the greenhouse complex |
Our first stop was fern heaven...2 full greenhouses. The diversity was incredible and the arrangement was beautiful, with contrasting forms planted among mosses. The paths were a hard packed sand which helped keep the humidity high in these houses. I think I took a few hundred photos in these houses which I'll share when we get back!
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| Fern heaven |
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| The light was just right for some great close-ups |
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| The labels were even artistic |
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| Plants with a orange and black ribbon signify those that survived the war. |
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| A gigantic Agave salmiana |
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| The manager of horticulture, showing us the photo of men who cared for the plants during the war, |
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| A large Aspidistra collection |
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| The aquatic greenhouse |
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Subtropical conifers
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| This house also had a huge diversity of ferns |
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Pityrogramma sulphurea
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| Phoenix canariensis |
After our tour of the greenhouses, we had a late lunch and then headed to the city center with Alexandra and were led on a special tour of the Hermitage. The Hermitage is one of the largest and oldest museums in the world, founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and opened to the public in 1852. The collection is comprised of over 3 million items, and Alexandra said if you spent 8 hours a day, every day, it would take you 10 years to see everything. Needless to say, we took a relatively quick tour, spending about 3 hours at the museum. Nina arranged for Natasia to join us, a staff person at the museum, and she took us to see some of the most famous pieces, giving some amazing commentary along the way.
Photos don't do this place justice, but I'll include a few for good measure.
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| The grand entrance |
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| Mother and Child by Leonardo da Vinci |
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| Mother and Child by Raphael |
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| The Crouching Boy by Michaelangelo |
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| The Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt |
After our time at the Hermitage, we walked around the city center and then had dinner at a fun, "kitschy"(as described by Alexandra) Russian restaurant close to our hotel. Good food and music to end a great day!
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