Good evening
Well what a fab day out the boys & I have had today. We've left Suffolk and headed over the border into Essex to Colchester. We arranged to meet friends at the station - had to laugh we came out of the exit and there was no sign of them! We called and they told us they were are the exit! Took a moment or two to realise there are two exits!! Anyhow we got that sorted and were soon on our way into the town centre.
The reason for the visit - Giraffes! To celebrate the 50th birthday of Colchester Zoo - 30 large painted giraffes are dotted about the town and nearby area - and another 100 or so are there too. The large ones were painted by artists and the small ones by local schools/community groups.
My friend had spent many hours earlier this year painting hers and we wanted to see it for real.
Just for once Big Son wasn't the tallest thing around!!
Giraffes in all sorts of designs - smart, evening wear.
This reminded me a bit of the Rolling Stones lips logo (excuse the teenager photo bombing in the background).
The other side without a teenager lurking!!
A Masai inspired one.
This artist works often with glass and the tiles that made the necklaces were all individual small glass tiles - just stunning.
This one was based on the nursery rhyme - Twinkle, twinkle little star - which was written by a Colchester resident!
Another nursery rhyme one.
Inside a rather modern and snazzy arts centre in town.
One of the smaller school decorated ones - loved her spotted shorts.
A patchwork one.
This one is called Womb with a view - if you look closely you can see part of the body is just the internal parts - including a baby giraffe in the womb!!
The last one I snapped - it was decorated with Colchester land marks.
We stopped for lunch in the gardens of the Castle - just opposite a family of pandas!!
Oh the main reason for visiting - this fella in the food hall of M&S - he greets everyone who comes to the shop;
The whole thing is decorated with African patterns - really wonderful.
We saw many more - especially of the small ones but these weren't always easy to photograph as they are in shops and other public buildings.
At the end of the summer all the giraffes are being auctioned - sadly I won't be able to bid - Helen's already has a 4 figure reserve on it!!!
If anyone is near Colchester over the summer hols - I would recommend getting a leaflet and doing some of the trail - it really is good.
Right - time for a soak in the bath and hopefully a good nights sleep.
See you soon
xxx Vicki xxx
14 comments:
Colchester Zoo...wow memories are coming back to me of feeding the elephants and of course the giraffes. It's been so long but we went so many times when we lived in Essex. Thanks for the trip down memory lane and remembering that fantastic county!! xx
They are amazing, what a fab idea. Love the Stones and the Masai ones. The Panda topiary is pretty cool, too! x
Aren't they fab! Love the baby one in her old style swimmers.
This year Marwell Zoo are celebrating and in our city we have loads of rhinos to find! Something to keep us busy one day later in the hols when we do our trail. Our two posts together would look like some strange safari!
Lisa x
They are great.
Wow, those giraffes are great aren't they? Colchester's not far from me - must revisit! xx
Wow what a fabulous idea, the giraffes are all amazing and so different ~ Sarah x
Giraffes are cool they remind me a bit of the super lamb bananas in Liverpool. I love the panda hedges so cute x
Oh wow, they look fab! We have a couple of weeks free time coming up in August, so I think we will find a day to head up to Colchester, my kids would love these!!
Just been catching up with all your posts, sorry to hear you've been unwell, hope you're well and truly on the mend now xx
Those are great - especially the african one. These trails are getting quite popular - we've had several in Bath/Bristol over the last few years. Bristol has Gromits this year!
They did something similar with gorillas in Bristol a while ago, hope it catches on, great fun. EE xx
This is so cool! Love all the giraffes, my daughter would adore this.
M x
one of the best things that has happened to Colchester in years. They make everybody smile. Have had great fun finding them with my grandson. Castle park is always worth a visit and the floral pandas are great. I could get contentious about the VAF but hey it is a beautiful day and the giraffes are fantastic
Not what you see everyday on the high street! Hope your feeling a little better now :) x
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