Philip’s mother and sister, Kim, arrived in Taipei two days ago for a week long visit where they lucked out on unusually fabulous weather, full of sunshine and warm temperatures. We spent a day at one of our favorite local national parks a half hour drive from our home, the Yangmingshan National Park, where the Calla Lily Festival was in full force.
As we neared Xiaoyoukeng, a post-volcanic geological area, the smell of rotten eggs and the sound of hissing gas brought back fond memories of the first time we saw the famous fumaroles, or openings in the earth’s crust emitting various gases, during our holiday in Taiwan two summers ago (you know it’s a good memory when sulfurous fumes make you feel happy). The fumaroles are reminders of the dormant volcano here, and of course, all this geothermal activity also makes for a nice hot spring spa experience.
As we continued our walk in Yangmingshan, flattened basketball-sized cow dung patties alerted us that we were now in cattle country at Qingtiangang Grassland. The grassland is technically a lava terrace with its terrain flattened due to prior lava flow. Its flat surface was ideal for growing grasses, which now feed the semi-wild cattle roaming its fields.
Now, you know that no post would be complete without talk about food. Well, it just so happens that Yangmingshan is known not only for its beautiful landscapes but also the delicious countryside food it offers. The mountain vegetables, free-range chickens, fish…. We had eaten at a fantastic bare bones, mama’s-house-but-better restaurant the last time we were in the area, but I had a feeling Philip’s mom wouldn’t find sitting on plastic kiddie stools for a duration of a meal as quaint as I would. Hey, an opportunity to try a new place! We reserved a spot at Stonehouse 63, a beautiful spot set on a little hill where the waitstaff had to carry meals from the kitchen at the bottom of the hill to the restaurant at the top. The food was even better than expected (I wish I could have ordered every single vegetable on the menu), and of course eating al fresco in the mountain air never hurts.
We saved the most crowded part of the park for last. This time of year, the calla lilies at Zhuzhihu (Bamboo Lake) come into bloom, and the Taiwanese love their flowers. For a 50NT admission price, a little less than 2 USD, we gained entry into one of several calla lily farms where you pay 50NT for ten stems of calla lilies. Kim couldn’t believe the price, since she said that New York florists in her area charge 5 USD per stem! As Philip would say, that’s just takin’ the piss.
There were two varieties of lilies: the ones growing in dirt and the ones growing in a swamp like area. Of course, the most beautiful lilies were growing in the swampy area, out of reach from the raised boardwalk around the perimeter. Let’s see how much the Taiwanese really love their flowers. For most, the horror of removing one’s shoes in public to step into swampy water and warm mud outweighed the desire to have the largest and most stunning calla lilies. But not for Jules and me. Once we got over the squishy oozy factor of the mud, we waded through a couple spider webs (sorry, spiders) to pick the most perfect calla lilies I’ve ever seen.
