Hello again! Here is my post for our adventures at the Wright Park and The Mansion. In the previous article that I wrote, we were in Mines View Park. After Mines View Park, we started hiking down as, like I said in the previous articles, it was overcast and was drizzling at times. We thought it was a perfect day to walk, after all, we had nothing else to do but explore!
So join me again as I take you around the things to see in these 2 neighboring places. Here we go!
Wright Park is located on the eastern part of the city and the main gate of The Mansion is directly in front of it. But after our trek, we came to this entry point, and instead of going around, we braved these stairs! 150 steps of them! We were huffing and puffing when we got to the top but we also felt a great sense of accomplishment as we succeeded in climbing up this set of stairs.
This is what it looks like from the top. The person at the bottom looks very small, evidencing the height we had to climb to get to the top.
It seems that everywhere we went, there were sunflowers around. And it also seems that we never get tired taking pictures of them or with them. Ha ha.
As you look around this area of the park you can see gigantic pine trees, evidence that the park and the trees are not going to be in danger of urban development.
Do you believe in the saying, there's art in everything? Even a tree stump can be something to take a picture of when there's art flowing in your veins, ha ha ha ha ha!
Kidding aside, there were other pretty flowers in the area aside from the sunflowers and I tried my best to take pictures of them as well.
This part is just across the main gate of The Mansion and the pine trees are pretty young, compared to the ones on the other side of the park.
The mound in the middle is a wishing well, but it is not really a well, it is just a mound of stone, and there is no water inside. So I guess nobody makes their wishes there.
The main feature of Wright Park is an elongated pool of water with pine trees on both sides that lead to the main gate of The Mansion. It is called the 'Pool of Pines', I guess it is called as the water reflects the pine trees on both sides. Since we were just using our iPhones for pictures and since it was not sunny that day, we could not do anything about the light. It still looks serene though.
This creature was attached to the stalk of one of the sunflowers and I was just curious to see what it was. It wasn't a butterfly as it was not moving even if I got very near, but it did not look like a cocoon either, so it is a mystery. Whatever it was, it looked pretty.
Don't know what they call this but this is also near the area where the stairs are. It looks like a pavilion but it doesn't have a roof.
This is the 'Pool of Pines' from a distance. At least from this vantage point it looks brighter than the one above.
This area is coming down from the pavilion without the roof. It leads to the Pool of Pines area.
It was so refreshing to see the beautiful flowers that were all around. We do not see as many flowers here in Manila, that's why. Or they are different ones.
It was not just us walking around during this cold and wintry day. There were quite a number of other people exploring like us.
A pretty pink hibiscus flower. Very pink and just starting to bloom.
This shot was taken from the opposite side, facing the pavilion instead of the direction of The Mansion.
The pine forest in front of the main gate of the Mansion. Just creating some drama.
Of course I had to have my picture taken at the Pool of Pines too, right?
And, of course, at the end of it all, we come to The Mansion, which is located on Leonard Wood Rd. It was built in 1908 for US governor-generals and was destroyed in 1945 during the battle for the liberation of the Philippines.
The Philippine government later rebuilt the structure and it is now used as the summer residence of the President of the Republic. We were surprised to see that the gate was open to visitors so we took advantage of it and took pictures inside.
Of course we could not go beyond the front facade of mansion, but this picture is on the right side by the main gate as the mansion has a circular driveway.
Not sure how true this is but it is said that the elaborate design of the gate is said to be a replica of the Buckingham Palace. Although you see the Philippine seal on top.
Taken from the inside. The gate does look beautiful. And I think my niece would say that so is she. Ha ha. Let's be generous towards her.
This is the driveway on the right side of the mansion. There were also tall pine trees around. Although now I am not sure why I don't have a picture on the left side when I thought I took some. Oh well.
Anyways, here concludes this part of my Baguio adventures and hope you enjoyed looking at the pictures and inspire you to visit there as well.
Stay tuned for more travel adventures, and for more articles like this, go to this page.
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