Franklin Park Conservatory

At the end of July, my friend Emily and I took a trip to the Franklin Park Conservatory in Bexley, Ohio. The conservatory displays a huge variety of plants from different geographical locations and climate zones, as well as a collection of glass sculptures by the artist Dale Chihuly. What drew me to the venue this summer, was the exhibition of carnivorous plants. These species, in addition to their fascinating digestive processes, have some of the most unique and beautiful shapes and colors of any plants.

Click here to view a gallery of my images from the conservatory.

An Irish Adventure Part IV: The Little Town of Malahide

For the last few days of our trip, we took the Dublin train north to a tiny coastal town called Malahide. The town is mostly residential, an affluent suburb of Dublin, with two main roads that intersect to form a tiny village containing expensive boutiques, restaurants, and a few pubs. The town also contains a yacht club, golf courses and tennis courts. Although I'm not much for fine dining and country clubs, the quiet town was a welcome change from the noise and bustle of Dublin. There were also far fewer American tourists.



We made more than a few visits to Gibney's, one of the local pubs. My drink of choice, since I'm not much of a beer drinker, was a Jameson and ginger. I was particularly entertained by the tiny 6-ounce glass bottle of Shweppes they served it with.


Gibney's owns a nice little wine shop that's connected to the pub. The wine sellers were very knowledgeable and helped me pick out a good bottle of Cabernet.


Despite all the fantastic restaurants that Chris' mother and stepfather took us to, I'd have to say that my favorite meal on the trip was the tea and scones, served at the Grand Hotel where we stayed. Amazing.

An Irish Adventure Part III: Museum of Natural History

We spent one afternoon exploring some of the museums in Dublin. The National Museum of Ireland - Natural History is a rather small building, but it's packed wall to wall with displays of thousands of animal specimens, carefully arranged by taxonomic group. Walking amongst the glass cases you get a sense of being transported to previous era, perhaps the time of Linnaeus or Darwin. It was very different from any museum I've seen in the states.

Canidae (wolves, foxes, jackals) - Maned Wolf in center


Mammals of the World exhibit - That's a fin whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling.


Rodentia (rodents)


One of the many many avian cases - Most of these are Plovers (wading birds indigenous to Ireland)


Hominidae (great apes)

Now then, where was I? Oh right, Ireland

I'm finally trying to get back to regular postings. The last month has been a hectic blur and a number of things kept me from sitting down long enough to write a coherent post - job-searching, house-hunting, finally practicing for my drivers' license, and spending several days at the hospital in Lancaster Ohio (do not want to do that again). I'm also starting my masters program next week, so a lot is going on. Unfortunately I now have quite a backlog of photos, but I'll start where I left off - in Ireland.


Part II: The Streets of Dublin

Dublin is a small, but busy city, full of colorful storefronts and apartment buildings. Many of the roads are brick or stone and there seem to be as many bicycles as cars on the streets. The river, Liffey, bisects the city from east to west. Here are a few of the sights I got tromping around while we explored the city.


Grafton Street (shopping district)



Cobble stone street in the Temple Bar district (lots of expensive bars and clubs)


The Liffey


Trinity Street (by Trinity College)



One of the many cyclists