I’m like a proud parent who wants you to look at endless pictures of her child. Only my child in this case is a set of beautiful blooming trees in my garden!

Above is a full shot of my little weeping crabapple tree.

13 Bronze Figures Reinterpreted from Velázquez’s ‘Las Meninas’ Line Up in a Central Venice Plaza

13 Bronze Figures Reinterpreted from Velázquez’s ‘Las Meninas’ Line Up in a Central Venice Plaza

13 Bronze Figures Reinterpreted from Velázquez’s ‘Las Meninas’ Line Up in a Central Venice Plaza

13 Bronze Figures Reinterpreted from Velázquez’s ‘Las Meninas’ Line Up in a Central Venice Plaza

13 Bronze Figures Reinterpreted from Velázquez’s ‘Las Meninas’ Line Up in a Central Venice Plaza

I am happy to say that I know a lot about Italy. But, I’m smart enough to know there’s even more I don’t know, can’t know, will never know. Not in one lifetime.

This is a fun article about something I didn’t know but am happy to know.

Lovely Patrizia sent me these recent photos from the Bardini Gardens. Scroll to the bottom of this post to learn more about this giardino.

And, honestly, this move is a lot of work and sometimes, I have to admit, I wonder if I’m crazy to do it. But then, I think to myself “Italia!”

The Giardino Bardini is an Italian Renaissance garden of the Villa Bardini in the hilly part of Oltrarno, offering fine views of Florence, Italy. Opened only recently to the public, it is one of Florence’s well kept secrets.

The garden is composed of three separate areas, each created in a different time period, which adds to the architectural and agricultural diversity. The park’s center contains the grand staircase that was constructed in the 17th century. On one side of the staircase you can find the Anglo-Chinese garden created in the 19th century. The other side of the staircase hosts the garden’s agricultural park. The garden boasts many statues and panoramic views over the city. Wildlife in the garden includes rock pigeons, blackbirds and woodpigeons.

Access is gained via the Via de’ Bardi, just over the road from the Museo Bardini in the Oltrarno district of the city, although the gardens exit onto the Costa di San Giorgio, onto which the Forte di Belevedere and the Giardino di Boboli connect in turn.

Source: Wikipedia

Spring finally arrived in Denver!

I took these videos today in my front yard. It is at its absolute peak!

As everyone knows, I love my life in Italy, but I’m so happy I got to see Denver springtime for 2 years in a row! I selected and planted these small trees about 15 years ago, and I love them!

In 1992 I was lucky enough to spend part of the summer in Rome, Assisi, and Florence. I met several fascinating people on this trip.

One was Marco. He’s an expert on Assisi.

In Rome that summer I was fortunate to be one of the scholars invited to study at the American Academy in Rome. Our topic “the development of Rome under the Renaissance popes.” I was in absolute heaven. Here I am with one new friend, Susan Dixon.

No trip to Rome for me is complete without a stop at Canova’s statue of Pauline Borghese.

Neither is any stay in Rome (or anywhere in Italy) complete without lots and lots of gelato!

Below is a picture of some of us scholars outside a Roman ruin we were lucky enough to have access to. It wasn’t open to the public and we had to wear hard hats. We felt like pseudo archaeologists. I’m the one in the shorts.

I must say, though, that some of these fabulous experiences ruined me for regular life. I identify with what Virginia Woolf famously remarked:

The blossoms in my garden today!

Spring arrives late in this region, compared to more temperate parts of the world. But, it is still beautiful!

My good friend Patrizia just sent me these great photos from her recent visit to Milan, where her son is a student at Bocconi University.