From West to East

Besides work, I have also been continuing my tour of the Cleveland area.  Last weekend, I checked out the Cleveland Zoo.  It was a very warm day so the animals were a bit lethargic and seemed to be more concerned with their afternoon naps rather than entertaining visitors. It was still a fun site to see, especially the Rainforest.  I was really interested in a lot of the tropical plants and orchids.  In the coming weeks, I will also get a chance to work in the Glasshouses at CBG, so I will get an even better look at some fun tropicals in the Costa Rica exhibit. I'd have to say that my favorite animals were probably the koalas and the tropical fish in the aquariums.

Koala in the Australia Exhibits

Aquarium Exhibits

The zoo also had a public greenhouse, which of course I had to check out.  I captured some beautiful photos there as well.  In the Rainforest exhibit, I was very intrigued by all of the vertical plantings.  The walls were covered in lush green plant material and it provided an interesting texture as well.  There were also animals in the Rainforest exhibit, but I had a greater interest in all of the tropical plants and orchids. 

Vertical Plantings in the Rainforest exhibit

Hibiscus

Earlier this week, I also expanded my travels into the East end of Cleveland.  I have noticed that the city is quite divided, people generally clarify whether they live in the West End or East End.  I am technically an East End resident, well for the next couple of months at least.  Anyway, a friend from the gardens took me to the North Chagrin Reservation, which is a part of the Cleveland Metroparks system.  I thought the Minneapolis park system was unbeatable, but Cleveland also knows how to develop a park system because it was beautiful.  We walked along the Chagrin River, and even in the river.  It is so shallow that we were able to easily cross to the other side.  It amazed me that we could still be in the Cleveland area but I felt like I was in the woods in northern Minnesota.  We were even joined by a couple of the local dwellers, some beavers that did not seem to be bothered by us one bit.  I collected some sea glass pieces to remember this beautiful site.

Chagrin River

I've truly been enjoying my time thus far, and I cannot quite believe that I am already one month in!  I love work and I also love exploring the city, I have lots of things left to do in these next two months, and I bet the time will fly by.