Living in the city, there are few places that we can go where 3 young children can run, jump in puddles and explore. I have wanted to visit Rizal Park for awhile, the gardens being the main attraction for me. I love visiting gardens, their beauty inspires me. I aspire to landscape and garden my own yard, but my attempts often fall short. Its nice to get ideas from other places.

We visited the Site of Rizal’s execution and the Chinese Garden first. They are on the Northwest corner of the park. It was good to learn a little histroy of one of the Philippines’s most beloved heroes. The Chinese Garden was not what I expected. It had a few good features, but was sparsely landscaped for the most part. You might as well pay the 5 pesos and walk through while you are here, however.

If you walk down the sidewalk a bit more, you will find the Japanese Garden next. This was a step up from the Chinese Garden and had a lovely bridge and some very pretty spots within, but could still use some improvement.

The last garden we visited was the Orchidarium. This can be reached by crossing the street and is on the North side of the park, across from the large black sculpture. I’m glad we saved this one for last. It was beautiful and lush, with tropical vegetation covering every inch of the garden, secret little paths to explore and a Butterfly Pavilion which was magical with little creatures fluttering about your head. The children loved this garden and so did I. It also looked like they were setting up for a wedding in the middle courtyard. What a beautiful location for a ceremony.

On the way back, we ran across a horse drawn carriage called a Calesa. The kids really wanted a ride so we all hopped in. It was a fun ride, but make sure you negotiate before you start!! I will add a separate entry about this.