A Subtropical Paradise

On Tuesday, our local friend, Vitor, offered to take us to the Parque Lage. It's a 52 acre public park in the neighborhood of Jardim Botanico. It was originally a sugar mill in colonial times then remodeled by European architects in the 1800's for an industrialist named Enrique Lage and his wife that was a famous opera singer.  The roman cathedral style mansion now houses a small cafe and art school. The park includes old stone laundry facilities of the slaves, caves with artificial stalagmites and stalactites, a castle-like tower, hiking trails, subtropical flora, small ponds and bridges, and hidden aquariums. It was so beautiful we could have walked around all day if we hadn't gotten so hungry. I would love to go back and explore more of the stone pathways.

 Mysterious caves

 View from inside the stone tower

Pool inside of the mansion