Thursday, May 2, 2019, Japanese Friendship Garden and the McClelland Library - Irish Cultural Center

Another opportunity to use our American Horticultural Society Membership was a visit to the Japanese Friendship Gardens in Phoenix. On Google maps, the site seemed to be surrounded by the freeway so it was difficult to imagine it being a peaceful setting. We found the freeway was underground - I am still curious to know what prompted the construction of such a massive freeway tunnel project - so the gardens and the surrounding neighborhood were truly peaceful.

At the far end of the pond, I spotted a pair of swans posing for me. When we walked around I saw they were just decorations floating near the waterfall. Maybe I should not have spoiled the tranquil illusion.

I believe the purple flowering trees (found throughout Pheonix and Mesa) were Jacaranda Trees.

The mallards were very real and colorful and not bothered in the least by passing patrons.

The Koi were well fed and eagerly swam towards anyone near the water just in case there might be another handout.

The garden was indeed very peaceful - I could understand how one might sip tea for hours on end and watch the day slide by. We were impressed with some high rise condominium towers overlooking the gardens, but a quick check online told us the smallest unit started at $965,000. With a mortgage payment, taxes and association fees that would be some very expensive calm.

Next door to the garden was the very impressive McClelland Irish Library and Cultural Center. The stonework made you think it was built hundreds of years ago but it was just opened in 2012.

There was an extensive exhibit highlighting the Book of Kells. The book was hand illustrated by monks in the ninth century including portions of the Bible's New Testament. It also included important records of the time such as land deeds and family trees. This, of course, was only a reproduction of the original Book of Kells (housed at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland). The reproduction process was documented in a short film we watched. There was a tremendous effort to make the copies as authentic as possible.

The entire neighborhood was quite impressive and we will have to spend more time exploring another time but today the temperatures were headed into the 90's so we decided to head home to Sam and some relaxing at our resort.