Friday, April 8, 2016

G is for Gardens!

Cleveland is Cooler Than You Think!
All over the media, in tv and movies, Cleveland gets made fun of. In this year's A-Z Challenge, I'm here to show you everything Cleveland has to offer!


G is for Gardens!
Cleveland Cultural Gardens
Hungarian Cultural Garden (photo: Wikipedia)
John D. Rockefeller, a resident of Cleveland, gave 254 acres of land to the city in 1896, "to create a memorial area for the diverse ethnic groups that shaped the region, and to be a space of reflection about peace cooperation and mutual understanding."- Cleveland Cultural Gardens website.

The first garden, The Shakespeare Garden, now the British garden, was dedicated in 1916. Leo Weidenthal, a journalist and Shakespeare lover, was instrumental in creating this first garden and dreamed of using this large stretch of city land to pay homage to all the immigrant communities that were settling in Cleveland. Throughout the years many more gardens were added. Today, there are 29 distinct cultural gardens with 6 more in the works. With 120 distinct ethnic groups currently residing in the Cleveland area there is still much more that could be done.

There is no other garden in the world like this one. Statues and busts of people representing each culture ranging from Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Confucius, to famous scientists like Tesla and Copernicus, to composers like Bach and Beethoven all reside within the same 2 mile stretch of lush gardens.

Each year in August, the garden sponsors One World Day, bringing together all nationalities in a celebration of "Peace through Mutual Understanding."  There is a parade of flags, cultural performances, entertainment and lots of ethnic foods.  Being the 100th anniversary of the first garden, this year will have a multitude of special performances and ceremonies.


Resources:

http://www.clevelandculturalgardens.org/gardens/syrian-garden/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Cultural_Gardens
http://www.culturalgardens.org



Doggy Style (It's really not what you think!)

My three kids have taken up the habit of naming all the different positions our beagle Rory gets himself into.  Most of the time even I can't quite figure out why they chose the names they did but I thought it might put a smile on everyone's face to share in this silliness!


G is for Gorphlax!

This is an extremely rare alien-like pose, we were lucky to catch it on film as it is only sighted once in a blue moon!






How is the challenge going so far for you?  Have you found any new blogs that you really like?  Tomorrow, I'll be highlighting some of my favorites that I've found so far.  Don't forget to visit everyone else on the list! I realized I have to visit about 88 blogs a day to get to everyone. Yikes! I don't think that will happen, but I will try.

We got snow here last night, and I thought it was supposed to be spring! Hope everyone had a great week.  Here's to the weekend and one day off! 

Kathy :)

8 comments:

  1. I didn't know that John D. Rockefeller had been a resident of Cleveland. The Cultural Gardens look very interesting and like something that I would like to see.

    Also love that picture of Rory. However did you get to catch it. He really is a creative Beagle.

    Visiting from the A to Z Blog Challenge.

    Shalom,
    Patricia @ EverythingMustChange

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  2. 100 years will be a big deal indeed. haha quite the shot of the pup too.

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  3. I love visiting gardens of places I visit - some are botanical gardens of rare specimens brought into the city from all over the world, others are representative of the countryside outside the city. Cleveland's sound wonderful! But the one I really want to see is in Tromso, Norway :)
    Jemima Pett

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  4. Hello from A to Z, Kathy. I think the busts and statues of the famous people would be something fun to view and photograph.

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  5. Cool! I'll have to visit the gardens if I ever go to Cleveland.

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  6. How can anyone say Cleveland isn't cool? It's the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As drew Carey once said "Cleveland Rock!" ☺ Then there's the TV show, "Hot in Cleveland" which only added to its fame. We took a road trip there a few of years ago and loved it. Missed the Gardens, but they look beautiful. Rory doing the Gorplax is a funny sight. Cute Beagle!

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    1. Oops- typo! That should read "Cleveland Rocks". and it does!

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  7. Pat G.- I'm hoping to check out the gardens this summer! My kids took the Rory pic!

    Pat H.-Thanks!

    Jemima-OOH I'd love to just be in Norway! :)

    Cynthia-I think so too!

    Patrick-Yes! I also love Longwood Gardens near Philly, I don't know where in PA you are, but it's beautiful.

    Debbie-Haha, lots of people do! But I'm glad you think it's great, that's one less person I need to convince! :) Cleveland does Rock!

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