Day 3 - the Botanical Garden

Wednesday February 13

We have a free day today. Nothing planned. No alarm clock at 6:15 am ha-ha.
So, we leisurely got up and leisurely had breakfast.
Then James asked: What do we do today? In the morning the weather is supposed to be ok but in the afternoon it is supposed to rain. So I suggested to go to that Jardim Botânico José do Canto (Botanical Garden) which we had passed on Monday on the way to the shopping mall. James thought that was a good idea and off we went.

This is "our" street, one of the main ones in town.

More down town. See the nice mosaics on the sidewalks?

Should have taken a photo of the gate to the garden ... but forgot. We paid 4 Euros each and got a map. The nice young man suggested we should start with the chapel on the left (going uphill a little).

We were not sure whether this was what he meant but since the door was open we went in and yes, this was the Chapel of Saint Anne. We were surprised about the inside since the outside didn't looked at all fancy.

We really enjoyed this visit. It was a very mature nature place. The garden was established more than 100 years ago by a wealthy man with a lot of botanical knowledge. Now the same funds are not available any more. But we meandered around and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Soon we came to this well (part of a primitive irrigation system). Of course I had to peek in. Do you see what I saw?

There were a few buildings for "assorted events" but the tree next to it was special.

I call it "Father Nature's tree". When we went close it didn't look anything like it.

There were several trees which had an incredible circumference. They looked so majestic. The plants get enough moisture here so they look luscious.

The bamboo forest looked almost enchanted. There was quite a wind this morning and there were lots of sounds including birds.

Another majestic tree with an incredible root system.

Unfortunately this photo doesn't show at all how impressive this Queensland Kauri was.

Lots of different camellias were scattered around.

And then we were done. 

We went down to the center a different way and ended up where we had not been. Interesting.

But then there was the place where James had had his Cappuccino the day before.

James wanted to go to our tour office at the harbor. It's a nice walk so we did. We made sure everything was as it should be and even booked an extra tour for Saturday. 

There was the church where the Canadian couple was in when we joined the city tour so we thought we might as well go in now. I liked it much better than what Hugo called their main church. And ... it even had lace. This is fillet crochet but very fine and very nice. 

The rain was really coming now. We made our way towards our hotel but stopped at the Farmer's Market to get some bananas. His anona were not as nice as yesterday any more so we skipped those.

My leg really wanted to rest so straight onto the bed and we relaxed in the room for a while. The rain had come. We even heard thunder. Oh no. What about supper?

We had had a recommendation from the driver who had picked us up from the airport. A half a mile walk in the other direction of the street is the restaurant "Gastronomo". We had originally thought we might try it tonight. With the rain we had second thoughts. The reception lady recommended a place in that direction but only a 5 minute walk she said. Well, we had headed out. The rain was not that bad in that moment. The reception lady's suggested restaurant was empty. Not a good sign. We decided to keep going. 

And there it was. "Gastronomo" had already patrons seated. We were greeted with a handshake and seated. Right away good impression. A young man took care of us. He was very friendly and full of confidence. He recommended this red wine. "Everybody wants this" was his comment. He told us it was only 15 Euros. It was very nice.

I had the fish soup and James carrot soup. Both nice!

James wanted the veal and the young man highly recommended it. But they only had one left.

So I had the chicken. Very nice.

You can have it with french fries or veggie rice. They brought both. Note to Christa: Veggy rice is very good to make as side dish.

They were so busy. Every table was taken. The mother had joined father and son (we assume) serving. She brought us the bill but decided we needed a liquor at the end. She came with 4 bottles to choose from. She was so cute. Almost gave me a hug. It all seemed genuine. 

And no rain going home. Looking back. There it is on the left. May be we go again day after tomorrow or so? Especially Helen would have loved this place.

Today's step count: 17,249 (so far)