Tropical therapy in a cold climate

I am so happy. The climate is warm and steamy and tropical, and the sunlight streams through the glass roof as I deeply inhale the fragrance of a multitude of colorful, exotic flowers. Latin American music plays softly in the background, and children run and laugh as they push past me.

I'm on a mini vacation - Heaven on Earth. And what do the locals call this fantastical paradise?

And only 15 minutes drive from my house? The Bronx.

The Orchid show at the New York Botanical Gardens #orchidNYBG is open now until April 21st.

$20 entrance fee, and no passport needed. 

Now, I'm no flower expert, far from it. In fact, most plants that enter my care do not tend to make it.

But anyone, including me, can appreciate the beauty of an orchid.

And there were certainly lots of different specimens to admire - in fact 30,000 different known varieties of orchids exist. 

Here are just a few that I took photos of today, using my trusty iPhone:

The Moth with stripes; the Moth with spots; the Pansy; the Asian Corsage; the Slipper: and the Rainbow varieties.

I could've stayed there all week, and I would have too - I was so comfortable, lounging in my deck chair, sipping on my daiquiri - but the security guards had other ideas....