The National Garden

Having seen the exhibition of Impressionist lithographs at the Goulandris Museum in Pagrati

we walked on to the gardens around Zappeion

a long avenue cuts through the gardens

the statue of a cherub on our left

and then the Zappeion exhibition building

it was a Sunay and there were not that many people about.

We always stop here

to have a look at the turtles

they are so sweet

and here's a baby. Ahhhh!!!

We continued on our way

and came to one of the entrances of the National Garden. The garden which is 38 acres, was the garden of the King's palace which is adjacent, and is now the Greek Parliament. It was commissioned by Queen Amalia in 1838 and completed in 1840. In the 1920s the park was opened to the public and renamed National Garden.

It was a hot day so this was welcome shade

under these extremely tall palm trees

and we came to the main entrance

these palm trees are truly extraordinary

we continued on our way

the garden is full of shaded places where one can sit - like here

or here

or here,

or here

lots of fish in this small pond

This is the main pond of the garden, the place where parents bring their kids 

so that they can have a look at the ducks and geese - interestingly I don't recall seeing people feeding them, so a different tradition to the UK

don't know about this one though - have not seen this type of goose before

next to it is another small pond

where more turtles swim or rest on the rocks

there's fish as well

Back to the big pond

and we saw some babies - sweet little goslings

Over the bridge

We wondered what these are - maybe for the water birds to shelter?

We moved on - past the aviary and the small zoo. I did not stop: can't bear to see animals and birds in captivity

As we got near the garden wall so we saw a crowd outside and went to investigate.

The changing of the guard outside the presidential palace. 

The new lot arriving

while the old lot are waiting

It's a complex little ritual they have

We watched until they finished

then back to the garden

finishing off at the cafe.