April Showers Bring May Flowers

Before I get into the real subject of this post, I should probably clarify something about title.  "April showers" is actually a bit of a misnomer.  We keep waiting for summer to come, but it's actually been cold, windy, and often rainy for much of this month, too (so cold, in fact, that the Academy recently moved meals from outside back inside last week!)  At this rate, I'm skeptical that I'm ever going to make use of all of the tank tops and sundresses that I packed!

Academy Courtyard (covered in beautiful but sneeze-producing flowers)

In any case, though, if you can manage to escape the rain, May is actually a really beautiful time to be in Rome.  Absolutely everything here is in bloom, the streets are filled with al fresco dining options, and the entire city feels revived after a relatively sleepy winter.  (Incidentally, my allergies are also revived- I swear, I've sneezed more in the past month than I have in all the 30 years leading up to it.)

So, when we've gotten breaks in the rain over the past few days, I decided to load my pockets with kleenex, and check out two of the best places in Rome to enjoy spring:  the rose garden and the botanical gardens.

Rose Garden

I visited the rose gardens on my own one very windy day last week (while Tom was finishing up some work).  It's easy to get to-it's just across from the Circus Maximus (and open from about Mid-May through June).  The park was actually two small parks (separated by a small road), but each side was packed with hundreds of varieties of roses.  It was incredibly beautiful, and actually reminded me a little of the Lake Harriet Rose Garden (back in Minneapolis).  And best of all, it's completely free!

Despite the hordes of tourists down by the Circus Maximus (and the nearby Forum and Colosseum),  the rose garden was surprisingly empty.  Perhaps it's off most people's radar, or maybe most tourists don't want to "waste time" seeing something that they could see in their hometown.  But, if you ask me, that's a rather narrow view, because I'm pretty sure most of their hometown rose gardens don't have views of a ancient ruins in the background.  Of course, though, I was perfectly happy having this garden practically to myself (especially after battling through crowds around the Colosseum to get there)!  It'd be a great spot to spend the afternoon with a book (which perhaps I'll do on a less windy day in the near future).

More Rose Garden

Even More Rose Garden (with Palatine Hill in Background)

Tom in the Botanical Garden (with a new haircut and our trusty map)

Then today, Tom and I finally made a visit to the botanical garden that's right here in our own neighborhood.  We've probably walked by the "entrance" up here on the Gianicolo Hill a hundred times, but in typical Italian fashion, the gate was always closed and locked.  As we learned from our friends who scoped it out first, it turns out that that they actually only sell tickets at another gate, which is a ten minute walk down the hill.  Again, if you ask me (which no one ever seems to do), they'd do much better keeping both gates open.  I can't tell you how many times confused-looking people have stopped me near the locked gate to ask how to get into the garden (and so I'm sure the they are  missing out on lots of entrance fees).  But running businesses efficiently doesn't exactly seem to be a priority around here!

Water Fountain Stairway (and me)

Still, I'm glad we took the time to figure out how to get into the garden, because we really enjoyed seeing it.  It doesn't necessarily stack up to some of the other botanical gardens I've seen (like in Brooklyn or Berkeley), but it was still very pretty and (as an added bonus) occasionally provided great views of the city.  There were herb gardens, flower gardens, a Japanese garden, a bamboo forest, a beautiful stairway fountain, and something called an "evergreen wood" (although we found this a bit confusing, since we couldn't locate even a single evergreen).  And, on the way out, we were able to sneak out of a hole in the fence near the locked entrance, and ended up practically back at the Academy!

Amazing Flower (anyone know what this is?!)

View of Rome From the Gardens

Bamboo

It's also a good thing that we got a chance to connect with nature and relax a bit because this week is going to be busy.  All of the trustees of the Academy are in town, and so there are a whole slew of new people here and tons of events (concerts, cocktail parties, ceremonies, open studios, etc.) happening every day.  And, on Friday Tom will be leading some of the trustees on a walk through the Forum.

Now, I know what you're thinking, and, yes, this week will be a lot of fun and, yes, we are extremely lucky to be here among so many interesting and talented people.  But, for a couple of introverts like us, meeting so many new people and having so many social engagements in a short period of time can also be a bit overwhelming and exhausting!  Still, we're also looking forward to all of the wonderful experiences this week will bring.  And, if it gets to be too much, perhaps I will have to sneak back through that hole in the fence into the botanical gardens!  

Alla Prossima,
Erin

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Mon. May 27:  Finally a day of sun after a couple of cold and rainy weeks!  Still, the highs have been about 10 degrees colder than normal.  And it's been freezing at night!  I'm ready for summer now, please!