| Nashville is famous as the capital of country and western
music. Not exactly our scene but we had been told that it was
definitely worth a visit. Apart from all the records, the most famous
musical event is the Grand Ole Opry which used to happen in downtown
Nashville but now has a theatre all of its own on the outskirts.
This venue is surrounded by other tourist attractions such as shopping
malls and hotels, but the most amazing one of all is the Gaylord Opryland
Hotel. |  |
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hotel has almost 3000 rooms, but arranged in a number of wings so it is
probably not as bad as it sounds. But the parts worth seeing are the
public areas, which are virtually all under enormous glass domes.
They are thus able to support plants you would only normally see in the
tropics, interspersed with naturalistic waterfalls and enhanced with
pavilions and statues. One of the domed areas even has a canal with boats
that take you on a cruise of the area. The three statues below
particularly took our fancy as they are all reading books, not an obvious
American pastime in our experience so far! The most expensive rooms are
the ones with balconies on the inside, overlooking the gardens. |
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| There are aerial walkways so the plants can be appreciated from
different angles - for example, to allow a closer view of the
bromeliads which are featured in one area. The gardens are full of little
nooks and grottoes so one can sit and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere
generated by the sound of moving water and the scent of the exotic blooms.
The whole is interspersed with eating areas and coffee shops, and we
paused at one of these to enjoy a coffee and some REAL carrot cake. |
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