The guy in the yellow shirt is wearing the corona, or crown of laurel leaves, that is worn to celebrate a recent college graduation.

What a gorgeous sentiment!

The social season in Florence is in high gear and there is something marvelous to attend sometimes several times a week! Last evening New York University’s satellite campus in Florence, which is incredibly housed within the Villa La Pietra just outside the city, held an event showcasing some efforts by current undergraduates. My friends and I went, not so much to hear the undergraduate students speak, as to experience the surroundings. And the villa and its gardens did not let us down! I’ve been there before, but had forgotten the magnitude!

Below is a view of the villa itself from the interior garden side. I mean, wow!

Can you hear the crunch of the gravel as I walk along taking pictures?

But our evening actually began inside the villa and the next few photos will show you our evening as it unfolded. I did my best to capture the interiors into which we were allowed (it is a tightly guarded facility) and the few photos of the grounds outside the windows that I was able to take.

I am a mah jong aficionado and so, apparently, were the children who lived at the villa back in the day. This is in the so-called “children’s room.”

Finally I was able to get to a window and shoot some exteriors! It was a gorgeous evening and I just wanted to be outside not inside listening to some lucky but silly undergraduates.

Can you spell: manicured?!! Ha!

Back inside we continued.

More shots out windows:

Eventually the talks ended and we found our way outside where I was thrilled to wander for a while and shoot these photos and videos! Enjoy the visit from wherever you are in the world!

Glorious and opulent, no?! There’s more I want to show you, a 2nd post coming soon with photos taken at the golden hour.

In Villa Ada, I found peace and tranquility on a beautiful Roman morning in May!

I love looking at the leaves, and seeing the new, lighter green ones reaching for the sun!

Happily walking with a friend through the Barberini Palace in Rome recently, I fell in love with his massive Murano glass chandelier. I love the emerald green accents to the clear glass.

Simpler times. Fewer tourists.

The best pictures I took on my recent visit to Villa La Pietra are the following. I just couldn’t stick them in with the abundance of the earlier post.

Uh-huh! I told you! The golden hour and what a place to spend it!

One of my favorite things about Italia are the umbrella pines. I absolutely adore them! To me they spell I-t-a-l-y.

So often, living here, I feel like I’m inhabiting a painting!

In the next 3 photos, please pay close attention to the way the wisteria has been groomed to grow and reach up to the balcony above. It has been pruned and pruned over perhaps decades to the point that the stem of the plant looks like the trunk of a slender tree! I marked it below, because it is hard to believe and easy to overlook. I have seen a lot of wisteria over my wisteria-loving phase of life, but I HAVE NEVER seen this before. It is astounding!

Also, look at the way the sunset is reflected off this beautiful wall!

Yes, this is not a tree trunk, it is the stem of wisteria!

Ah, sigh! So beautiful

Alla prossima!

At least 4 times I week I have the great pleasure of walking through this famous piazza in the center of Florence. This spring day was exceptional and the artist gave me a focus. He’s not Michelangelo, but who cares?!

The history of this loggia is, like almost everything in the city, amazing! Enjoy!

I’m sorry about all these crazy margins and widths. WordPress and I don’t jive on the picture placements. It’s probably my fault.

It’s been lovely, but May arrives tonight at midnight! See you again next year!