Thank you so much Alex for sharing your beautiful travel photos here. I don't get to travel much so it is a huge treat for me to see these beautiful gardens through your lens. Wow, love the tree peony blooms in Moscow University. What awesome and spectacular shrubs they grow! I have never seen so many trees covered in blooms. Did you encounter any difficulties traveling in Russia or going through customs? I also love the pics of the Spanish gardens and architecture that you took. Love those gorgeous arches and open verandas that overlook the gardens. Just magnificent. The roses and waterlilies in the German gardens are wonderful as well.
Thank you Jasmin for sharing the links to the peony books. I am starting to read Peonies MS Uspenskaya via Google translate. Already I am gripped by its opening paragraph.
"When, as the song says, "we can't overcome trouble, when despair sets in" ... we go on trips, and if not possible, then to parks or to our garden plots. Communication with nature, with plants is necessary for everyone. The great Russian artist and philosopher NK Roerich writes: "Beauty in its philosophical and evolutionary sense is the basis of the human spirit. Without Beauty, neither the evolution of a person as a whole, nor the advancement of an individual person can take place. Without it, there is no man as such, there is no light on his path. Images of Beauty, according to the teachings of the Living Ethics, live and pulsate in space and affect the psychic energy of the individual.True Beauty plays an important role in evolutionary progress, changing a person for the better, elevating his thoughts, developing his spirit." This is perfect description of how I would feel if I was traveling and seeing the images that Alex shared in this thread.
