Tickets in hand, well in phone, we waited until 12:45 and entered the Amazon Spheres. It was the Amazon Bucket List Day.
We had to book the Amazon Spheres tour tickets more than a month before. It’s only open to the public for two days each month, so we planned ahead. Before I knew for sure that I could be in Seattle that day.
We lined up for the designated entry, showed our ID, and it was like being in the Wonka Factory, except with plants.
In my mind I’m picturing the children running into the chocolate factory with that sentence, but unfortunately the plants are missed on me (apologies to my horticulturist mother). The building is still rather impressive. It’s made of 2,600 panes of glass and a pleasant (but unusual) 60% humidity. There are 40,000 plants from 50 countries. Despite not fully appreciating the plants, we did spend a lot of time photographing them. Some have a gorgeous pop of red amongst the green. The succulents are Instagram-perfect. I did get confused at one plant. The sign said it was an Australian tree fern, but I couldn’t see a tree fern. My mother grew a lot of them when I was little. Then I looked up. It was the tallest tree fern I have ever seen. Much more tree than fern. My mother will be proud I recognized the maidenhair fern, but I also giggled at the plant (fungi?) that looks like dried dog poo. There were also lots of cute curly ones. Yep, that’s the botanical description. I have too many photos so the plants are getting their own post.
There is a bird’s nest kind of seating area that was fun, at first. I can spend four days standing on a sheet of glass in the air, but bendy wood made me very uncomfortable. Another “meeting room” has a forest board room. Monika and Bee called it a boardroom. My mind went the Knights of the Round Table. I don’t know. We spent time doing headshots of Monika and I would have done the same except I really need a haircut and a Ravenclaw t-shirt isn’t very boardroom—even in Seattle.
If you’re wondering, we skipped the doughnuts. I was the only one who wanted one, but it was mainly because I’ve heard amazing things about General Porpoise doughnuts. The line was long; I didn’t really like the flavors offered, and nearly $5 is too much for a doughnut. We also skipped the visitors center. It’s separate from the Spheres and not mentioned (probably because the Spheres tour is literally just access into a building).
It’s a month today until I arrive in Melbourne, and I’m working right up to departure (mirroring when I left Melbourne nine years and one week ago). Everything is getting rather crazy. This, well the upcoming Amazon Go post, may be the last bucket list post. If it redeems me, I’ve accepted a request to do a post on the locations for the Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries in Melbourne and Castlemaine. And my favorite Miss Fisher is joining me for the tour.
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