I love Canberra in the springtime

Having spent Canberra's winter in an injury-related fog, I'm delighted to finally be out and about and back on my bike. Spring is gorgeous in Canberra. Not too hot, not too cold, and bursting with exciting things to do.

This year was the 28th time Canberra hosted the Floriade flower festival. We attended both ...

... during the day ...

... and after dark

Our own garden has blossomed lately too!

The Canberra Museum and Gallery currently has an exhibition of dolls dressed in historical fashion:

The craftsmanship (craftspersonship?) is magnificent!
The exhibition runs till 22 November. Don't miss it

Something else that's relatively new to Canberra and very cool is the Windows to the World embassy and high commission open days. The open days ran for the first time in 2013 during Canberra's centenary celebrations, and were so popular they're now running every two years. This year about fifty embassies and high commissions participated  over four weekends. We were a bit busy (what with trips to Goulburn and volunteer commitments) but managed to make it to four embassies. Absolutely delightful! We chose some countries we knew little about. At the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan we watched traditional dancing and were treated to a feast of plov [pilaf], stuffed vine leaves, kebabs, pakhlava [walnut pastries] and shakerbura [sweet crescent pastries].

I came away with a recipe book so plan to

recreate some of those fabulous delicacies!

At the Embassy of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria we learnt about the country and enjoyed some traditional snacks:

Baklava and nougat

We're so lucky to live in this fascinating and multicultural city.