Although I planned today's Wednesday walk to be a Wednesday run 😆 because I am still swamped with work (piano practice, which I talked about yesterday) so I don't have time for a longer, leisurely walk, I decided to continue presenting a part of the Malaga botanical garden. It was a really good walk; three hours of being there was not enough to cover all the paths. However, we did see the majority of the spots and the Stately Home was one of them.
We, here at Hive, are lucky to have our own virtual place where we meet and share our stories and our experiences; we socialize here. In the nineteenth century, the family members who owned this botanical garden also had their own place to socialize. This palace and its surroundings. They could hold cultural events and cultivate a love for the arts, writing, music, theatre, and sports. They, and the guests who were coming to visit them could have it all here, in the botanical garden, surrounded by nature.
Now we have to do a little exercise to climb these stairs and reach this magnificent palace. Unfortunately, we won't see the owners who lived here anymore, but we will see a character wearing all red and his carriage. You will see him in a few moments.
Climbing the stairs was not all the exercise that one could experience here. It seems that tennis was very popular at the end of the 19th century in Malaga, and I see from the board ladies wearing colourful dresses but having tennis rackets in their hands. Lawn Tennis was played outside and probably the balls were not as heavy as nowadays. I am not sure, I just tried to check now what were the characteristics of Lawn Tennis. What I am sure about is that they didn't have their own representation, they played just in their family.
There was a library with many classical works and unpublished writings in this palace and I found out that they also had a piano... I could not enter the house, it was closed and not possible to visit it. However, I saw the little side door leading to the patio open... and there I was trespassing. 😂
Be honest, wouldn't you do the same seeing how beautiful the patio was? Not even my husband realised I entered there; he asked me where I disappeared.
Do you see that little door on the left side of the photo? I came in here through that.
There were some beautiful benches and family photos from the past hanging on the walls.
Do you remember the bench by the Loring Museum? It appeared in this post.
This is how I found out they had a piano in the library. Too bad it is not open to the public, I would like to know if it is still there.
Leaving the elegant patio through the same little door, I stumbled upon ~~an angry guard!~~ a character we usually see around Christmas... He wears red clothes and apparently, his name is Santa Claus.
You can skip this photo of someone checking the map. 😂
Bad visitor! Entering places that were not indicated and sitting in a sleigh intended for children.
Right next to the palace, we found this iron structure. This arbour was built in 1859 with the material coming from Heredia ironworks. We were here in January, but according to the board, the flowers of the plant Wisteria Sinensis that intertwined with the iron lattice bloom in March. Those who live in Malaga could visit it at that time and inform us if it indeed is that beautiful (but I believe it that yes).
Behind the palace, going toward the Historical Gazebo we passed through a part full of awesome greenery. The vegetation is so dense, that you just go through the paths between the plants, trees, bushes and palm trees.
There were also two waterfalls in the section of the botanical garden; I took a photo just of one, of Monstera Waterfalls if I am not mistaken.
And at the end, we visit a nymph. The fate of the sculptures, living their lives pouring water from jars 😁. She lives in a nice place, so I am not worried about her. This must be enjoying waking up every morning surrounded by so much nature!
