Floriade, second visit - part 1: World Show Stage

I wanted to visit the Floriade once more, there is so much to see that it is impossible to see all in one day.
So together with my friend Guido and Ari I visited the Floriade again.

Pavilion of China

This is a replica of one of the Classical Gardens of Suzhou. The entrance is impressive:

two lions of stone as gate-keepers

Ari in his natural habitat ;-)

Spanish pavilion

A beautiful modern building, the windows have colored wood on the outside, so the light inside the buildig is colored. Inside is a presentation of typical horticultural produce of different regions in Spain.
Guido and I both were ignorant about the produce of sherry-vinager, so we learned something new!

Bulgarian pavilion

Fragrant roses and unusual borders that are separated with wood.

And a white Buddleja with butterflies:

Pavilion of India

Here was an exquisite entrance. I was smitten by the Ganesha statues, here two of them.

Pavilion of Sri Lanka

We did not go in, but this statue screamed "take picture!", so glorious with the white background!

Nepalese pavilion

Inside was a bazaar (like the pavilion of India) with mainly jewellery and ornaments for sale. Outside were some wonderful statues that were sadly too expensive for my budget.

Pavilion of Indonesia

An other marvelous pavilion!
Two impressive gate-keepers at the entrance:

This was one of the few pavilions where dogs were not allowed inside the buildings. No problem, outside there is enough to see, like this unusual colored waterlily:

I will never see the real one, so it was nice to see a miniature Borobudur!

Pavilion of Ecuador

No pictures, like most pavilions of poor counties (like Sudan, Kenia and Jemen), a bazaar inside the building. Guido found a nice wintercoat for 40 euros, but hesitated to buy it.
I suggested to go on and decide later, if he wanted it we could come back here.
Hours later, when we were on the other side of the Floriade, Guido said at once: "Lets go to Ecuador!", so we went back and he bought the coat.
At our first visit I noticed very nice ponchos of alpaca-wool, but I did not dare to ask the price. When we returned I asked anyhow and was pleasantly surprised by the answer. So for only 70 euros I became the proud owner of a chocolate colored poncho with matching hat. I won't get cold next winter!

Belgian pavilion

The first time we passed the pavilion of Belgium it was closed. At the end of the day, when we returned for Ecuador, it was open. So we walked through the park-like roof-garden. Back inside I saw this advertisement at the videoscreen. Of course I was too late with my camera, so we had to wait for its return...

Ari had a great time at this part of the Floriade, he was extensively petted by an Afghan woman (who is probably looking for a Pekingese herself now), people from Ecuador, Japan, Nepal, India and Afghanistan at the pavilions and many other visitors ;-)

to be continued