Garden of Cosmic Speculation and Latin Flavors Blog Hop Sign Up

 

Don't you just love the name of this garden?  This is definitely a one-of-a-kind garden.  I've never seen anything else like it in all of my travels.  The Garden of Cosmic Speculation is located in Dumfries, Scotland.  It covers thirty acres and was built in 1989 by Charles Jencks, an internationally acclaimed architectural critic and designer.  The garden is actually his own private garden.  It is open to the public only once a year (usually in May).  If you want to see this place, you'll have to do a little planning (and get there really early when it does open, because the traffic jams are ridiculous).

The garden was designed to provide thought (speculation) about the nature of things.  It was inspired by science and mathematics, with themes like Black Holes, Fractals, and DNA helixes.

Plants are not the big feature here.  There are a couple of man-made dragon lakes. Mostly what you'll see are a lot of steel structures and symmetry.  The garden begins at the base of steps leading down from the original eighteenth-century manor house.  You'll see a Sense of Touch garden, where a metal hand waves back and forth, beckoning visitors to come to check it out.  You'll see a steel DNA helix and a Heaven-Hell primeval wilderness garden with a beautiful red arched bridge

 The snail mound allows you to explore the Fibonacci Sequence of numbers that make up the shell.

Before I go, I'd like to tell you about the Latin Flavors Blog Hop I'm hosting:

When:  September 14-18

Where:  Your Blog

On September 15th, my new book, Bubba and Squirt's Mayan Adventure, will be released. To help get the word out, I'm having a blog hop. It's called, "Latin Flavors."

In the book, Bubba and Squirt try a couple of Latin dishes. I thought it might be fun to share recipes of food from Mexico and Central America.

Here's what participants will do:

1. Share a favorite "Latin Flavor" recipe

2. Include information about my book in the post. I will provide all of that and send it to you a week before the blog hop.

If you'd like to participate, please sign up on the Linky List.

Thank you!

Villa d'Esta

If you like fountains, the gardens at the Villa d'Este, in Tivoli, Italy, are a must-see.  The gardens are on the grounds of the former residence of Cardinal Ippolito d'Este.  They were built in 1572.  Today, this garden is part of the UNESCO world heritage list.

The garden is organized in terraces and steps.  Visitors will see numerous fountains, grottos, and ponds.  The Neptune fountain, pictured at the top, is the largest and most spectacular fountain.  There's also an organ fountain, which, yes, plays organ music with the sounds of the falling water.  If you'd like to hear it, the first playing is at 10:30 every day, and then it occurs every two hours.

The garden is open daily from 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM.  Admission is 10 euros for adults.