Montreal Botanical Gardens (Plan B)
September 11th, 2010
So today our big plan (me, Mike, and my folks, visiting from the states) was to go to the Biodome. I was all psyched to introduce my mom to the place; she's a nature-lover like me. I brought my camera. We were slated to arrive in the early afternoon. I figured that was the perfect time, on the perfect day, to take advantage of the big skylights in some of the exhibits and get good photos sans flash. Tropical birds, Canadian birds, diving ducks up close, various mammals and reptiles. Like a fool, I never bothered to, say, call them up, or have a look at their handy easily-accessible website, which might have changed my mind about a thing or two.
So we drove two point something hours from Ottawa to Montreal and...well, have you ever seen National Lampoon Vacation? Remember how they arrive to an empty parking lot and go "oh hey, we're the first ones here!" and then they run joyously to the entrance to the accompaniment of "Chariots of Fire", and then they finally get there and see the big "closed" sign and the statue of Marty Moose with the speaker in it that says, "Sorry folks!" And then Chevy Chase buys a gun and hijacks a roller coaster and shoots John Candy in the butt? Yeah, that.
Except for that last part.
But believe me, we thought about that last part.
Plan B was the Botanical Gardens. Which was nice. I think the Chinese garden was my favorite of those we saw. My pictures are mostly shite. Too much sun, bleaching all the color out. I had timed us for indoors-with-skylights photography, not outdoors photography. I did manage to get a few good ones later in the afternoon, or with the sun behind a tree. Haven't decided how many I'll post yet.
This one, at least.
It's called a Torch Lily.
September 11th, 2010
So today our big plan (me, Mike, and my folks, visiting from the states) was to go to the Biodome. I was all psyched to introduce my mom to the place; she's a nature-lover like me. I brought my camera. We were slated to arrive in the early afternoon. I figured that was the perfect time, on the perfect day, to take advantage of the big skylights in some of the exhibits and get good photos sans flash. Tropical birds, Canadian birds, diving ducks up close, various mammals and reptiles. Like a fool, I never bothered to, say, call them up, or have a look at their handy easily-accessible website, which might have changed my mind about a thing or two.
So we drove two point something hours from Ottawa to Montreal and...well, have you ever seen National Lampoon Vacation? Remember how they arrive to an empty parking lot and go "oh hey, we're the first ones here!" and then they run joyously to the entrance to the accompaniment of "Chariots of Fire", and then they finally get there and see the big "closed" sign and the statue of Marty Moose with the speaker in it that says, "Sorry folks!" And then Chevy Chase buys a gun and hijacks a roller coaster and shoots John Candy in the butt? Yeah, that.
Except for that last part.
But believe me, we thought about that last part.
Plan B was the Botanical Gardens. Which was nice. I think the Chinese garden was my favorite of those we saw. My pictures are mostly shite. Too much sun, bleaching all the color out. I had timed us for indoors-with-skylights photography, not outdoors photography. I did manage to get a few good ones later in the afternoon, or with the sun behind a tree. Haven't decided how many I'll post yet.
This one, at least.
It's called a Torch Lily.
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