| (*with the wind chill, I mean!)
I love winter as much as the next polar bear, and I have to admit this weekend was really beautiful: bright lapis skies, thin golden sunlight -- and bitterly cold!
But sometimes winter just gets to you. My fingers and toes seem perpetually cold, and my skin is all dry and crackly. So I got up Saturday morning, looked at my long list of domestic chores -- and went to Franklin Park Conservatory instead, for a good dose of warmth, high humidity and growing things. And got a world tour in the bargain!
If you get a chance to go see the Enchanted Express exhibit now thru the end of March, it's really fun. If you're a kid (or a grown-up with no shame) you get a little passport booklet when you go in, and you can stamp your own passport at each of the stops.
There are miniature railways snaking their way thru several rooms. The coolest thing for me were the famous structures nestled among the plants, all completely made from plant materials. The artist is Paul Busse, who designs and builds garden railways in Alexandria Kentucky, and they are absolutely magical. The first one you see as you enter the Himalayan Mountains room is the Great Wall Of China:
An "artistic" shot of the Bodnath Stupa looking thru the waterfall -- made it seem even more sparkly! (Wish I'd captured a front shot of this one, it really was festive.)
 Moving on to one of my all-time favortie constructions -- the Taj Mahal. (Keep in mind these are made with all plant material -- one of the other "tourists" told me that even the color is plant-derived.)
Take the aerial train into the Tropical Rain Forest...
And stumble across the ruins of Machu Picchu!
Say goodby to the macaws and the apparently defunct ant-cam (are the ants affected by the writer's strike?) and enter into drier climes -- and witness the magnificent Hagia Sofia!
As you wind around the upper level of the Desert Room, you come across the famous facade of Petra; originally carved from golden stone, here reproduced in the tiniest curls of birch bark imaginable.
But it wasn't all a history/geography lesson -- there's plenty there for the kiddies as well! (And, face it, big kids like me.) On the way to the Palm House, you pass thru the Enchanted Forest -- complete with trains, a lady bug car, and plenty of fairy tale houses, like Rapunzel's lonely tower (see her hair curling down?)
For some reason I didn't get a picture of Cinderalla's coach, but I did get a close-up of what's got to be the gingerbread house. (Looks good enough to eat to me!)
Note the "book" in the foreground, as the train tootles past the Shoe, complete with old woman....
Did she make you do a double take?
I almost overlooked this magical little pagoda -- I don't know what the fairy tale reference was, but it certainly was nice, complete with guardian lions at the door.
All in all a really nice set up -- all the better for not expecting it at all. It runs thru the end of March, so if you get a chance, it's really worth it! | 
