Saturday 12 April 2014

10.000 Easter Eggs


My hometown's beautiful palace and its grounds have been featuring on my blog many times already, and I'll keep talking about it and showing you pictures from the park and buildings because they never look exactly the same and have their own beauty in different seasons and weather.
If by now you are tired of seeing spring pictures appear on my blog, I advise you to skip this post and wait for the next one, which will be another book review.

On the Monday after my week in Ulm, I had the day off so that it would be a complete weekend for me in spite of still having been at the course on Saturday. It was a beautiful sunny day, warm enough to be going out without a heavy coat, and my Mum and I decided it was just perfect for the park.



I don't know the name of this plant, but it looked so unusual close-up:


Some views can only be enjoyed now - you won't be able to see the statue (above, right) from the path once the foliage has grown and the plants on the ground reach their full height.





The Pumpkin Festival is a big event which was created, I think, ten or 15 years ago to attract more visitors to the park (and it works - although it is quite beyond me why people travel all across the country and pay a lot of money to see piles of pumpkins). I have posted about the festival a few times already, such as here.
Some clever people from our tourist marketing office have come up with a new idea: a Straw Sculpture Festival, to be held in spring, as opposed to the Pumpkin one which of course can take place only in autumn. 
I would never pay admission to the park just to look at the straw sculptures, but with our season's tickets, we have access to the entire park, and so walked through the straw sculpture exhibition as well. The most interesting one was this small church made of straw. Even the pews and the altar are made of straw, but I could not take pictures inside because there were people in there.

Maybe you have been wondering what this post's title has to do with it. We're getting at that now:





Again, some clever people have thought of a special attraction for the park. A tree is hung with Easter eggs donated to the park from people (individuals, school classes, knitting groups, church communities, companies...) all over the area. The condition is that the eggs have to be real ones. The aim is to collect 10.000 Easter eggs and display them on the tree until the 27th of April. At 10.000, this would make it Germany's largest Easter tree. For each egg donated, the organizers will give 50 Cent for charity. 
The last I read, there are a little over 7.500 eggs by now. I couldn't believe it when I heard the number - to me, the tree looks nowhere big enough to hold that many! Not for their weight, because of course they are all empty, and eggshells don't weigh much, but for space along the tree's branches. Well, I trust they know what they're doing. At least it was interesting to look at, and some eggs are so beautifully done; can you see the ones adorned with crocheted lace?



It was, as we had expected, a perfect day for a visit to the park. Next time I'll be there, most of the flowers will be gone from the trees and shrubs, it will all look a lot greener, and different flowers will have taken the place of the spring ones.

24 comments:

  1. Hello Meike:

    The park is certainly an enormous asset to your town and we can readily understand how and why you take advantage of your season ticket.

    Festivals, such as the Pumpkin one you mention, the Straw Sculpture and now the Easter Egg, are clearly ways in which to increase visitor numbers. It always seems a pity that, in this case the park, the attraction itself is never enough.

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    1. This town wouldn't even exist without the palace. The palace was there first, and the town grew around it.
      You are so right; the park in itself is beautiful enough, but today, people expect EVENTS at every corner.

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  2. What a beautiful park! I wish we had such a big one here. We only have a tiny park, which is actually called Villa Margherita, in fact it's small like a villa. But it has enough space for a small playground for children. at least. That sculpted chicken is Amazing! Who came up with that

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    1. It really is a beautiful park. The large lawn where the straw sculptures would be a lot more beautiful if they just left it alone; it would take a while for all the grass to grow back, but I am sure it would recover eventually.

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  3. How beautiful this is! I would love to see it, but since I probably never will again, I'm so glad that you are sharing all these photos....The mystery plant is some sort of Euphorbia. Perhaps if you look for images of them you'll be able to figure out which one it is. I still have some in my garden.

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    1. Thank you, Kristi! I am glad you enjoy my pictures of a place you have visited yourself in the past.
      I shall look up the Euphorbia.

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  4. Hi Meike!

    It's been a long time since I read your blog! Love the pictures, particularly the straw exhibit! :)

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    1. Hi Denise!
      A long time indeed - I hope you are well! A nice surprise visit from you :-)

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  5. Lovely photos as always, Meike. The idea of the eggs on the tree is fantastic and I love the clever ways they've been decorated.

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    1. Thank you, John.
      We spotted some very prettily decorated eggs on that tree, but they were hard to photograph, so high up and with the sunlight coming from the "wrong" direction.

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  6. Lovely views of spring, thanks for sharing. I hope they get the 10.000 eggs! :) The straw sculptures look nice too - as I have problems with hayfever, however, I would never dare go inside that church!

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    1. Isn't hayfever more to do with the pollen from flowering grasses? I think you'd be quite safe with just straw being there.

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    2. I react to certain smells/odours/fragrances as well as pollen. Freshly cut grass or dried straw (still retaining some smell) can both make me "choke". I bought a straw hat once but had to get rid of it because I reacted to the smell...

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    3. How unfortunate for you. The scent of feshly cut grass is one I love very much; it is THE scent of summer for me.

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  7. Very pretty, the gardens and the Easter egg tree! That straw chapel looks like it would be a nice place to sit and be still for a few minutes.

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    1. It would have been, if not for the many people walking in and out all the time (like we did, too) - and that was on a Monday. How much more crowded it must be on weekends!

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  8. I was going to say that I think the plant is a Euphobia (I have some in my garden that was given me by a friend from her garden) and I'm quite thrilled that I may actually be correct given that Kristi is of the same view (although we've spelt it slightly differently). [I've just looked it up and Kristi is correct it is Euphorbia. Euphobia is a fear of hearing good news!]

    I, for one, never tire of new views of the park and, in fact, any picture of the same place is always going to be different id some detail or other even if it's only the light. In this case it's a lovely fresh, spring day and that lifts the heart.

    As for the eggs that is a wonderful idea. I wonder what will happen to them when the festival ends.

    I am absolutely enthralled by the straw church and sculptures. I would make a trip especially to see them: they just appeal to me.

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    1. Really, Graham? That is interesting; you are the first person I know who says they would go specifically to see the straw sculptures.
      Since my reply to Kristi's comment, I have looked up pictures of Euphorbia and found the German name Wolfsmilch with it - and as soon as I read it, I remembered that my Mum said this to me when we were in the park and I was looking at the unusual plant.
      No idea what will be done with the eggs after the festival - good question!

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  9. Oh, Graham, I never knew of the word "Euphobia", and I find it somewhat hilarious. How sad it would be to fear hearing good news!

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  10. I love this post! I would walk there as often as I possibly could! What a great idea about the eggs, with money going to charity. It's also quite popular to crochet stones in the same way and I think the lacy look of it is very pretty!
    I am glad that Kristi could identify the flowering plant for you, I have never seen anything like it!

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    1. Had I listened properly to my Mum, I would not have needed to ask on here for the name of the plant, Kay :-)
      It really is a beautiful place, I am very glad to have it within walking distance, and go there as often as possible. When I worked at the library in the town centre, I often walked across there for my lunch break.

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  11. oh, my, what stunning landscapes!

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  12. what an odd meaning for the flower's name! My late aunt was the first one I learned about having an Easter tree. I miss sharing Holy Week and Easter with her.

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    1. This town wouldn't be the same without the palace and its ground - in fact, it would not even exist without the palace. I am very lucky to live close enough to walk over there anytime.

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