We'll Be Bach: Gardens by the Bay Conservatories

I'm skipping ahead a little so I can post about our visit to the Conservatories at Gardens by the Bay. We have been meaning to visit all year and finally were able to work it in. The wait was absolutely worth it. These places look like something out of a sci-fi movie, unreal.

I'll divide this blog into 3 categories: Cloud Forest, Flower Dome, and Flower Porn. The first two will cover general shots of each of the conservatories and the final one will be all those flower close-ups.

1. There are two big dome greenhouses at the Gardens. One is tall and more narrow and one is shorter but wide. We first visited the tall one, Cloud Forest (http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/the-gardens/attractions/cloud-forest.html) . It has a giant mountain with a waterfall, planted walls, and a cave. It is .8 hectares and 58m high. The best part is that it is 23-25 degrees Celsius, so it was nice and cool in the low 70s. Ted and I appreciated that. The kids were cold. New England winters will be really hard on them in the future.

Once inside, this view (and mist) welcomed us.

We then walked a lap around the base of the "mountain" to join the short queue for the lift to the top.

Those tracks up above are the paths we will be walking on eventually.

They had a miniature railroad with the station called "Victoria." I'm guessing British Columbia?

They're serving Lowenbrau.

Outside, you can see the daily late afternoon thunderstorm rolling in and the Singapore Flyer.

Unlike that wobbly path connecting the Supertrees, this one is stable and still even if you can see how far down it is through the grates.

This is Marina Bay Harbor and the storm rolling in.

I love all these angles.

Inside the "cave."

Behind the waterfall.

A view of the Supertrees in the distance.

A view back down at the train.

Outside here you can see they are building the world's coolest playground. Unfortunately we won't be here for the completion.

At the bottom, there is a big exhibit about climate change. This is a demonstration of what would happen when/if the temperatures raise by 5 degrees. Not good.

On the way toward the exit, there is a gorgeous "Secret Garden."

2. We quickly exited and took the escalator back up to the entrance to the Flower Dome (http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/the-gardens/attractions/flower-dome.html), the much broader one that exhibits the cool-dry climates of the Mediterranean Basin, Southwest Australia, South Africa, Central Chile, and California. It is 1.2 hectares and 38 meters high. While it is about the same cool temperature as the other dome, it is dryer. The entrance had gorgeous photo displays of flowers with immersed video of them blooming.

What a breathtaking entrance, right?

Not a bad spot for a wedding reception? You know, as long as you invite fewer than 1,000 guests.

More interactive activities about climate change.

And back to the car park.

I took this in the car but wanted to show the breadth of Marina Bay and Gardens by the Bay. The big ship building is the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino (it's the one with the infinity pool on top) and you can see the Supertrees from the Gardens in front of that. To the right you can see the Flyer. Just in front of it, if you look closely, you can see the domes we were just in.

3. Flower Porn: Here are all those close-up floral shots the gardeners and botanists among you wanted to check out. I'm embarrassed at how little I know about flower and plant names so I won't even attempt it. I'll just list the pictures, okay? My commentary will be limited to, "Aren't they pretty!"