Since I came back from Lapland, weather hasn’t been great… It seems that, since we burnt the Böögg in April, the clouds have decided to stay in Switzerland. Temperature hasn’t improved a lot, we are still wearing coats and scarfs in late May. And it’s been raining for weeks.. Or, at least, it feels like that, because we haven’t had a sunny weekend for months!! This, of course, is affecting us. Unlike last year, when Spring came strong, rising temperatures very early and giving us so many beautiful sunny days, this year’s gloomy weather hasn’t allowed us to go outdoors as much as we would have liked. Weekends aren’t that fun inside home!
When I was living in Dublin I had a remedy for seasons as grey as this one. I used to take my camera and force myself out to find color. Yes, color! I found it the best therapy, the one that could cheer me up after days of grey skies and never ending rain. Dublin is full of parks with flowers and a lot of houses have small front gardens were I could take photos of flowers and little animals like squirrels and birds. When the weather was at its worst, I headed directly to the National Botanic Gardens for a bigger dose of color therapy.
Zurich is very colorful in its own way too, but there are less places to find flowers all year around. Even in the botanical gardens, where I love to go, there aren’t many flowers… But I recently discovered the perfect place where I can go when I can’t stand more grey days: Insel Mainau.
Insel Mainau is a small island in lake Konstanz, in Germany (close to the border with Switzerland). This botanical garden is also called a “flowering island”. Due to the milder climate, thanks to its location in the lake, a great variety of plants and flowers grow in the island. From the beginning of spring, the island is in constant bloom with several types of flowers blooming one after the other: tulips, daffodils, narcissus, roses, rhododendron… It’s such a magnificent spectacle!! When I went, thousands of bulbs were in bloom, covering the whole island in color. But the flowers are not the only attraction in the island. There you can find also a Schmetterlingshaus, a butterfly house, where you walk through a tropical forest full of cascades and waterfalls while thousands of butterflies fly around you…
Well, you can imagine that, even if the day was still cloudy and cold, I had such a good time in Insel Mainau!! Here are some photos I took that day… I hope their colors cheer you up!
Cherry blossoms. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 70mm f/3.2 1/2000sec. ISO100
Poppies. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 400mm f/5.6 1/320sec. ISO100
Cherry blossoms. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 400mm f/5.6 1/250sec. ISO100
Cherry blossoms. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 248mm f/16 1/25sec. ISO100
Busy bee. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 400mm f/5.6 1/125sec. ISO100
A field of tulips. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 100mm f/4.5 1/320sec. ISO100
Wild flowers and tulips. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 312mm f/5.6 1/125sec. ISO100
A field of tulips. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 100mm f/9 1/250sec. ISO100
Tulips. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 100mm f/9 1/2500sec. ISO800
Bamboo. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 400mm f/5.6 1/100sec. ISO320
Poppies. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 214mm f/5 1/800sec. ISO320
Heartleaf foamflower. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 400mm f/10 1/500sec. ISO320
Singing Robin. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 400mm f/5.6 1/1000sec. ISO320
Zebra longwing. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 400mm f/5.6 1/60sec. ISO400
Glasswing butterfly. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 300mm f/5 1/800sec. ISO800
Cethosia biblis. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 286mm f/5 1/125sec. ISO800
Malachite. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 400mm f/5.6 1/320sec. ISO800
Red postman. Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 400mm f/5.6 1/60sec. ISO1600
Son preciosas, como toda tus fotografías captas momentos bonitos en el paisaje.
Las mariposas me encantan junto con algunos pájaros son seres con mucho encanto, su libertad aunque sea en ocasiones poco duradera, te aporta liberación y sutileza en la vida.
Mil gracias, María!! Que ilusión que te hayan gustado!! Es un privilegio tener sitios así más o menos cerca…. son un pequeño oasis de color y alegría cuando los días grises comienzan a alargarse demasiado! 🙂 Las mariposas son un plus de alegría añadido!! Son tan bellas, tan frágiles y efímeras… como bien dices, aportan una sensación de belleza y libertad como pocas cosas! 🙂
I love the singing robin! What a catch. I’m sorry you returned to such gloomy weather. I’m sitting here in my kitchen, looking out the window and all I see is gray. It’s been this way all winter and spring except for a few days of sun. I feel your pain! Photography is a challenge, but you’re right that flowers and their colors brighten up the dullest day. I hope sunshine returns for both of us!
I just read too your respond in your post… Oh, this crazy weather! After an amazing winter, it feels now that it doesn’t want to leave at all… There’s so much snow in the mountains that we can’t go hiking as we’d like… And being at home at weekends it’s not my favorite thing… hehehe. But I’m sure summer will come for both of us, Anne! And then we’ll take beautiful photos with more color in them!
Btw, today I read in the newspaper that experts are saying that this summer is going to be very hot… It doesn’t feel like that at all! Maybe it’ll be hot, but it’ll be shorter for sure, at least in Switzerland! We’ll see….
A wonderful selection of images. The singing robin made me laugh in delight.
Thanks a mil, Susan!! I’m sure you’ll love Insel Mainau, they have such an impressive selection of flowers! It’s like the whole little island is in bloom for most part of the year!
That robin… He’s quite a poser!! Hahaha Once I started to point at him with the camera, he started singing even louder, hahaha I think he was a bit dramatic and funny 🙂
Those colorful images do cheer up! I have off the blog for some weeks, and so happy to see your post in my feed! So much optimism and life vibrancy, even in the coldest of springs :))
Thanks a million, Marina!!! Well, we missed you and your posts!!
Ah, it is being such a weird spring… cold and dark… The only good thing about it is that intense green color everywhere and that glaciers won’t melt that fast this summer… (or maybe they do… they say it’s going to be a super hot summer after all…)… But otherwise, I needed some color!!! And Insel Mainau was such a great therapy!! Botanical gardens have this wonderful effect in me, they so full of color and life that I can only cheer up in these places! This is a place I’ll visit often, I think!
Merci, darling! I hope I will be more back now :))
I totally agree. Here in Barcelona April was colder and darker than in Norway, for a change. I don’t know what we are still doing here, hehe. But now it looks more like spring, with warm evenings, warm sunshine, half naked tourists :))
It is great that nature still inspires, and even in rainiest of springs, it gives color and joy. Glad you found your sweet and colorful spot, and ah, a botanical garden is always a good idea! I miss that stillness living in the busy city. Truly a therapy 🙂