Monday 10 October 2011

The Park Without Pumpkins

As mentioned in the previous post, here are the pictures showing the (larger) part of the park where no pumpkins are on display. This was only a week ago, and yet the season has truly changed since then. It is much colder now, and when I leave the house, instead of skipping about short-sleeved and bare-legged, I need my coat, proper shoes, and a dress or skirt is only possible in combination with warm tights.

Have a look at the park (it is the one I walk through on my way to the other park; I showed you some bits of it here back in August) - it is one of the things that makes my home town most worth living in (of course, my family and friends being top of that list).

This enchanted little stone cottage was originally built not only to adorn the park, but also to house the head gardener. As far as I know, its current residents still work in the castle grounds. Ever since I was a child, I was fascinated by this house, and imagined what it would be like to live there - in the middle of the vast park, when all the visitors have gone and it is getting dark. Would the statues come alive? I was convinced they would!






Raised beds in the "teaching garden". They show all sorts of herbs and spices there, accompanied by short explanations of their use in medicine and in the kitchen.
 There is also this beautiful raised bed of seasonal fruit, flowers and vegetables.

This building was never actually a viaduct, it was built as a ruin on purpose. In those days, it was fashionable for rich people (like the duke who owned the castle and park by then) to have some picturesque "ruins" dotted about their land. Today, the building behind the arches is a café, and quite popular for weddings and other functions.

The orangerie (glass house) holds various exhibitions throughout the year. At the moment, you can walk through scenes from the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty". This table with the golden plates is supposed to be the dinner hold in celebration of the little princess' birth, when her parents offended one of the fairies by having the table laid for only 12 guests and she, as the 13th, had to stay away.




The perfect place for a little rest before we left the park and walked back home!

13 comments:

  1. You may take me to this park at any time of the year... with or without pumpkins! That photo of the cottage and the winding path leading to it reminds me of a fairy tale as does the ruin... and I always loved Sleeping Beauty, love the table set in the orangerie (what a wonderful word, will look it up now.)
    Oh, it looks like this comment might work! Must tell you that I loved the music from Cobario, was that the name? I looked them up and sent them a message, but who knows if they got it?

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  2. Hello Kay, yes, this comment worked :-)
    You are the only one, I guess, who actually did follow the link to Cobario's home page and listened to their music. I have 2 or 3 of their albums and although I like listening to them, they will always be a live band for me - they are, after all, street musicians.
    Glad you like the park! It truly is beautiful in all seasons.

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  3. Beautiful pictures, Librarian!

    Apropos pumpkins, apart from Halloween and Thanksgiving, are they really useful? I wouldn't know what to do with a pumpkin (a neighbour has just offered me part of her giant one, but I declined. Nicely).

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  4. I don't know what the German for them is but over here such buildings as the viaduct are called 'Follies'. A most appropriate name I've always thought but I love them nonetheless. I'm sure if I'd been a Victorian landowner I'd have built a ruined abbey.

    And I'm sure if you lived in the middle of such a magical place the statues would come alive for you.

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  5. Frances, pumpkin soup! pumpkin quiche! pumpkin muffins! pumpkin prosecco! All that, and much, much more, can be made from pumpkins. Try the soup; I am sure someone on here has an easy recipe. It is best when really thick and creamy, with a bit of carrot, apple and ginger, of the type that warms you from inside very nicely.

    Scriptor, you're right of course, I am familiar with the term follies but didn't think of it when I wrote the post.
    Have you read Edith Nesbit's "The Enchanted Castle"? The statues come alive there at night, and it is both scary and wonderful, just like it would be if that happened for real, I guess.

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  6. What a charming park. I too would have been fascinated by the "enchanted house". I always like places that are on the edge or inside parks and green spaces, all alone.

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  7. Yes, Jenny, such places have something, don't they!

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  8. Wow! I never thought about building a ruin on purpose. If it falls apart over time does it become a ruined ruin?

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  9. Mark, I guess that's what it becomes. A ruined ruin. Or the ruin of a ruin. Hmm...

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  10. What a beautiful park: I love the cottage for the grounds keeper, the herb garden with helpful info & the 'ruins'. I can see why it is a popular spot for weddings. It seems like a magical place, thanks for the tour (I need to add it to my bucket list).

    best,
    e

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  11. Elizabeth, you are welcome - I love giving such virtual "guided tours" in and around my home town and could go on and on about the castles, parks and other beautiful places for hours!

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  12. If I lived in an urban situation I could see myself spending a lot of time in a park such as this to re-charge my batteries.

    I like the idea of the statues coming to life - provided I didn't think about it and go there at night. Scary!

    I did, by the way, listen to Cabario (I'm usually too curious about new musical experiences not to) and thought they sounded rather more Spanish than Austrian. Their music is very agreeable and would make a really happy atmosphere in a street scene.

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  13. GB, Cobario started out as street musicians in Barcelona, that may explain the Spanish influence. There is also a lot of Hungarian and Gypsy in their music; the father of one of the boys is a Gypsy.

    In "The Enchanted Castle", Edith Nesbith writes something interesting about the scary aspect of the statues in the park coming to life at night. The boy who discovers them at first runs away as fast as he can - not from the statues, but from the fear he feels is about to overwhelm him. The next night, he spends a delightful time with the statues; he did well in outrunning fear!

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