Pücklerpark

Easter basket from my neighbours.

Well, I sit here preparing to drive off into the distance, back to ol' Blighty and a summer of beer gardens, wasps and salt 'n' vinegar crisps. Really looking forward to it, but sad to be leaving. My neighbours have been wonderful and I've had such a happy time here in Sophie's house.

On  Thursday we drove to Pücklerpark bad Muskau where my friend Lisa's dad works. He's a coachman taking horse and carriage rides around the grounds - and I got a free ride!  

Ellie (left) and Hans (right).

Our carriage awaits.

Home James!

So, the day before the royal wedding I got to practice my royal wave from a horse-drawn carriage of my own.

Pücklerpark house, completely rebuilt after 1945.

Oak Lake waterfall.

For every tree that dies, another is
planted on the same spot.

Fierce lions guard the gates.

Garden themes: the blue bridge in the Blue Garden.

Above the door of this house are the three symbols of Muskau: a woman on the left symbolising the flora and growth, man in the centre with a stag horn over his shoulder symbolising strength and the wilderman ('wild man'), woman on the right symbolising healing and health.

Pücklerpark, so named because it belonged to Pückler, is vast and beautiful. Today it sits half inside and half outside Poland, though in Pückler's day - until it was bombed in 1945 - it was all Germany.

The bridge in the middle. Facing Poland (left) and Germany (right).

There is also a rare and unusual chestnut grove. This is apparently all one plant, joined at the root, but looks like many small trees. Apparently when the leaves are fully out it's very dark in the middle.

Chestnut Grove: click to enlarge.

Rounded up with a yummy ice-cream :)

A thoroughly lovely day with my thoroughly lovely neighbours. What a way to end my time here. Lovely memories.