Royal Greenhouses of Laeken

One of the first days of May we made an excursion to the royal greenhouses at the Palace of Laeken, Serres Royales de Laeken. The greenhouses are only open to the public for a couple of weeks every year (this year 18 April - 9 May) so it is a very popular destination. We first went there on May Day and arrived around 10:30, one hour after opening. The queue of cars to get to the parking lot was so long we gave up right away. Instead we returned two days later and made sure to get there even before it opened. In retrospect it was very good to be even some of the very first visitors, since we had the pushchair with us in the greenhouse and they can get pretty cramped when they fill up with people. Here comes a cavalcade of photos from these beautiful place (it's a shame not even the park is open all year or at least parts of the year).

The Palace, on our way to the greenhouses

I think the greenhouses as buildings are really beautiful. Design by architect Alphonse Balat.

At a distance I thought the greenhouses were made of copper that was covered by verdigris but it is actually green paint that has flaked off and worn down by wind and rain.

The devil is in the detail?

Cool tree

It seems like all royal parks has an Asian garden.

Inside the green houses

No access to this one except a peak in the window.

More plants than flowers in this section.

Entrance to the secret garden

Chasing a curious one-year-old.



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You can't see it in the photos but many flowers had begun to wither. I think the best time to go is the first week.

The only thing that was perhaps missing were signs with names of plants and flowers.

I like these flowers on both sides of a staircase.

The path ended in the big greenhouse.

Friday Gallery: Symmetry

The second theme of November, as chosen by Channal, is symmetry.  These photos may not be completely accurate for the theme, but they seemed semi-appropriate.  Last weekend when we were in England we visited my alma mater Oxford and my old college St Antony's to see the new Gateway Building.  I had been a bit sceptic about how it would fit on the premises without taking up all of the lawn and that it would look a bit of of place, but I was pleasantly surprised.  It - or actually they, as there are two buildings - melt in among the existing new(er) and old buildings and they don't take up any of the green space (though perhaps blocking some sunlight), and most importantly, they (especially the left building) hides the Hilda Beast.  I like how their positions are streamlined - and that's where I find symmetry - with the existing buildings and the glass and bronze walls.  Before there wasn't anything special about area between the original (main) building, the Hilda Besse and the grass, it was just empty pavement, but now it feels more planned and decorated, and in many ways more green than before.  The new lodge (reception in Oxford lingo) in the left of the new buildings was closed but maybe next visit we can see the buildings also from the inside, and perhaps also go to high table.

Peeking through.  Hilda Besse at the back, flanked by the new Gateway buildings.

The old original St Antony's building to the right and one of the new Gateway buildings to the left, with the Founders' Building (where I stayed for a year), down the middle at the back.

US Road Trip 2009: Architecture

Subtitle: Buildings, bridges & other stuff

California

The houses along the canals in Venice Beach made me think of the colourful houses in Puerto Rico Petchie often tells us about

Danish architecture has found its way all the way out in California! Solvang was founded in 1911 by a group of Danish teachers who moved there to avoid the harsh winters in the midwest. They tried to make a living through the usual stuff, farming, etc. but soon realised people came to look at the different architecture. So they quickly started making money on all things Danish! Today the town has about 5,000 inhabitants and several bakeries, restaurants and shops offering a "taste of Denmark". There is also a copy of the Little Mermaid (of course).

Bixby Creek Arch Bridge was the largest concrete bridge in the world when it was built in 1932

Old, cute little cottages in Carmel is also architecture! I just wish now that I went in and bought some sweets so that I would have seen what it looked like inside!

The famous Six Sisters in Alamo Square, San Francisco, examples of few surviving Victorian architecture from earthquakes and fires

Golden Gate Park is a mix of ancient and modern. The modern building is de Young Art Museum and opened in 2005 (the old museum was destroyed in the 1998 earthquake). We didn't go in though; we left the museums to the New York leg of our trip.

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I could easily live in a beautiful house on a San Franciscan hill!

San Fran also has some modern architecture

Architectural still life. Bay Bridge as backdrop

New York

Just two of many, many bridges in New York City

An ugly construction but a clever solution; a park and recreation area featuring playgrounds and a ballpark above one of the city's sanitation facilities, for maximal use of space.

Iron art

The little red lighthouse at the bottom of a bridge, inspiration for the children's books with the same name

Very common sight in the US or the UK; signs and printing on (brick) buildings and metal signs

Queensboro Bridge, connecting Queens and Manhattan, equipped with a tramway and what looks like a rollercoaster underneath

The UN building was apparently built too quickly when it came up in 1950 so now it needs a major renovation (to be carried out by Swedish company Skanska)

Another bridge - maybe Saltis can identify it??!!

Bridge galore in this post! Bridges can be so cool and beautiful at the same time!

The Woolworth Building

Who said a ferry terminal had to be ugly?! These ferries go to Staten Island, one of New York's five boroughs (the others being Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens)

One of New York's most famous pieces of architecture, the Statue of Liberty. Or would you call it art? Or both.

The Standard Hotel, where guests are known to moon the visitors to High Line Park below (thanks Petra for the photo!)

The famous Flatiron building

New York also has some cute mews; here I'm posing in Washington Mews

The narrowest house in New York (and in the world?) at 75½ Bedford Street. It was built in 1873 and is 9½ feet wide. But I'm sure several of houses in the Netherlands beat that! Earlier in the autumn it was for sale for a mere $2.7m. Not sure if it's now sold or not.

Another iron building

The New York Post Office is a grand building

And so is the New York Public Library

Remnants of the shipyards in Long Island City in Queens

Mix of old and new - view from Long Island City

Old Egyptian temple at The Met . The Temple of Dendur is a Nubian temple that was built by the Roman governor of Egypt, Petronius, around 15 BC and dedicated to Isis, Osiris, as well as two deified sons of a local Nubian chieftain, Pediese ("he whom Isis has given") and Pihor ("he who belongs to Horus").[1] The temple was commissioned by Emperor Augustus of Rome and has been exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York since 1978.

We also went to Hearst Castle but I think that deserves its own post!