The Eden Project

One of the most famous tourist attractions in Cornwall is the Eden Project, a 30 acre site located in a former clay pit. It describes itself as a global garden, educational charity and social enterprise all in one and it is a striking complex of buildings and gardens. The big draw are the geodesic domes comprising a Rainforest Biome and a Mediterranean Biome.

We chose to travel there on what turned out to be a scorching hot day - probably not the best planning in the world. We got there shortly after opening and headed straightaway to the Rainforest Biome. As hot as it was outside, inside it was sweltering. It's a rainforest biome, so the humidity is through the roof - good for the plants, not so good for the tourists. Walking along the various paths you're treated to the most amazing plants from rainforests all over the world.

Throughout the biome there's signage identifying the plants and explaining what they're used for in their native countries. It was quite interesting but I didn't see a lot of people stopping to read about what they were seeing. Most people were just taking in the beauty of the plants as they made their way up the ramps.

There was a display about the earth's climate but no one went anywhere near it. (Truth be told, it could have used a good cleaning.) At one point, one crosses a rope bridge, something that did not fill me with unalloyed joy, since I'm not comfortable with heights and it bounced up and down with every step.

But I was here for the experience so across I went, very slowly, much to the annoyance of the people behind me. Once across, there's another display about the climate crisis, also not well attended.

There's a small platform at the very top of the dome for anyone who wants to get a view of the entire dome. There's a warning sign that informs that the temperature at the platform is extremely hot and that the platform is closed from noon till 2:00pm because of the heat. If you look closely at the photo below, you can just make out the metal steps that lead to the small rectangular viewing platform.

Closer to the end of the trail were many displays about the value of the rainforest and how is it threatened by the unsustainable choices the world is making.

It was sad that there was so much information available, but most of it was being ignored.

As I look at my photos deciding what to post, I realize that the thrill of being there is in the combination of sights and smells and heat. I have endless photos of tropical trees, but they don't really capture the essence of the day.

We left the Rainforest Biome and stopped at the "Link area" that connects the two big biomes and which has a sort of a cafeteria and gift shop. There was an ice cream stand, too, with an enormous line.

We had a sustainable, but not terribly good, lunch then headed to the Mediterranean Biome.

It was a bit like a Disney version of Europe: a small patch of garrigue from the South of France, a tiny collection of grapevines from Italy, Olive trees from Greece - you get the idea. If anything, it made me want to revisit those areas to enjoy more than a pocket version.

I really liked the sculptures around the grape vines.

All the while there was a bird who kept serenading us. I finally caught up with him,

There were lots of wonderful, colorful plants including a whole bed of kangaroo paw of different colors.

It was an interesting place but I would recommend visiting it before the Rainforest Biodome, because it's a bit tame by comparison.

Then it was off to another building which couldn't have looked less like the biodomes, a building called The Core.

There are no plants here, but there was that miracle of modern science, air conditioning - or perhaps not, but without the sun beating down and in the darkness of the building it felt lovely and cool. There was a fascinating display about microbes.

I could have stayed there and read every single panel but it didn't seem to be Bruce's cup of tea, so we did a quick visit and went on to the two featured sculptures.

The first was Seed, by Peter Randall-Page. According to the signage, Mr. Page and his team spent more than two years at the De Lank Quarry sculpting it. They began by reducing a 167 ton piece of granite into a giant ovoid, then carved 1800 nodes in Fibonacci spirals representing the extraordinary growth pattern found across the natural world in sunflowers, pine cones and daisies, and integral to the design of the building in which it now sits. At 70 tons the finished work is larger than any sarsen at Stonehenge and weighs the equivalent of ten African bull elephants.

It was impressive, in a rather low-key way. Just around the corner from the seed was the main feature gallery in which was another sculpture called "Infinity Blue."

The gallery itself was beautiful, with a wonderful wooden ceiling and skylights that let in just enough light, but didn't overly heat the room. Infinity Blue was made by Swine Studio (Super Wide Interdisciplinary New Explorers) and is a collaboration of Japanese architect Azusa Murakami and British artist Alexander Groves. It features a steel frame which is covered in ceramic and which contains robotic devices which shoot "smoke rings" of fog from its apertures.

According to the Studio Swine website, this 9-meter-tall piece "pays homage to the cyanobacteria, one of the world's smallest living beings. Around 3 billion years ago, cyanobacteria first developed oxygenic photosynthesis. In doing so, they changed the nature of our planet. The sculpture is a monument to their vital creations, which continues to provide oxygen in every breath we take.""

Even with children running around its base searching for the next puff of fog, it created a strangely serene atmosphere. I am always left in awe of art that pulls the viewer in giving both delight and food for thought.

Leaving The Core we wandered some of the vast gardens of the Eden Project.

All around the gardens were signs meant to educate, but again, few people stopped to read them. In fact, there were very few people wandering around the gardens at all.

By this time, the sun was at its peak and my feet were starting to scream at me that yesterday's cobbles at Saint Michael's Mount had made them very unhappy, so we slowly made our way up the ramps and the stairs toward the parking lot. There's something I find annoying about uphill climbs at the end of a long, otherwise enjoyable day. Don't I sound like a cranky old lady? (Hey, you kids, get off of my lawn!)

It was a very interesting day but if you visit, I would advise going on a cool overcast day. I think it would be a much more enjoyable experience.