Most people enjoy getting presents. Not gifts, as defined in this post, but presents. What makes presents special over gifts is that they’re supposed to be a surprise. Why else go through great lengths of wrapping it up? Or if you’re really advanced, first put it in a different shaped box, add some weight etc. to make the present payload less obvious to the casual observer. Any reader who hasn’t dozed off already or gone on to watch cat videos on youtube, thank you – there is a point to this.
Friday afternoon marked the start of a hidden garden festival in Bologna. It was a self-paced walking tour, and armed with nothing but a map and decent walking shoes people by the apparent hundreds were out to take in the sights and smells of the various gardens dutifully marked on our maps. To be clear, these were gardens as opposed to parks; you could not see them from afar, hence presents, not gifts. Like the anonymous wrapping paper or odd-sized box, the buildings enveloping the gardens did a spectacular job in toning down our expectations as to the splendor of the greenery hidden within. Even for a rabid urbanite like I have to admit to being, I found myself slowly wandering around in awe, as if in a daze, taking in the impressions of these oases.
This garden tour, that was not just attended heavily with seniors but also a measurable portion of the younger ilk, I’ll have you know, in which Bologna opened her kimono to us made us feel as if we got to know her better, some of her secrets. We sought out another of her secrets too – the hidden canals. After a little bit of sleuthing, but deliberately putting Google Maps away we managed to find a spot from which one of the canals could be seen. In one direction we literally had to open a small hatch in the wall to get a peek and try for a photo that unfortunately was against the setting sun of the warm early May evening.
We have now left Bologna behind us after a spectacular week. From an urban experience point of view, Bologna currently reigns supreme among Italian cities we have been to, which is now starting to get up there in number. Our current destination is an old favourite of ours; Florence. We stayed here a week in 2013 and will be staying another week this time.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http://[2600:1f13:e3b:9100:ae18:b451:18d2:e990]/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_20170519_163826.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”left” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” /][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]One of many lion statues guarding one of the visited gardens. Despite being made out of stone, their presence was majestic.
[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image” src=”http://[2600:1f13:e3b:9100:ae18:b451:18d2:e990]/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_20170519_183709.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”off” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”left” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” /][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”]One of the hidden canals in Bologna as viewed from the intersection with Via Pella.
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