Ah finally it’s spring


Ah finally it’s spring

Sunday, April 7th, 2019

Before moving to Italy last year I had lived in temperate areas of California for 45 years, the last 39 of those years in the San Francisco Bay area. There it seems like there are two seasons: Spring where it’s warm but not too hot and never rains and Fall when it’s colder but not too cold and rains fairly often. Now living in Bologna I’m definitely in a 4 season area. I appreciate a real spring much more after a real winter. The delicate leaves of spring are sprouting, swallows have returned both here and in Torino, and people are putting out planter boxes on their balconies.

And flowers are blooming! Near Torino there is a castle, well there are a bunch of castles, but this particular one has for 20 years had a show of the gardens planted with about 100,000 tulips. This year the first day was March 30 and Laura and I went there to see the display. Not all of the tulips were in flower but it was still rather impressive.

First a few of my photos and then…

The castle
Special display for the 20th anniversary of the tulip spectacular – including pinwheels
A lot of blooming tulips in this bed
And yes there are other flowers including these dafodils

some from the castle’s website, showing things in full flower.

One of the beds in full bloom

Another bed – mostly white
Yet another bed (there are many others) with some purple of different shades
A map of castles in the are – Torina (spelled Turino) at the top and you can barely see Pralormo (this place) at the bottom.

And finally the website itself – the English language version. I recommend the video that’s less than 3 minutes and worth watching.

http://www.castellodipralormo.com/en/

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6 Responses to “Ah finally it’s spring”

  1. Helen Brainerd Says:

    Love your “Dreaming” posts, esp enjoying the info on Turin, which is on our to-do list. Bay Area seasons this year are vary between light rain and heavy rain, accompanied by flooding, mudslides and more potholes. Flowers are arriving , though, and no drought this year! Our bext stop is Portugal in a few weeks. Keep writing!?

  2. Joe Says:

    Hi Helen,

    Thanks for the comment. I’ve been going to Turin often since my girlfriend lives there but frankly I prefer Bologna. Turin has some grand piazzas, residences of the kings and some terrific museums. I recommend the museum of cinema, the Egyptian museum and the museum of automobiles but frankly I prefer Bologna. If you do go to Turin let me know since I am there every other weekend.

    Joe

  3. Jan Says:

    Joe, the tulips are wonderful! My favorite flower and they don’t grow in Oakland. I’ve tried many many times and the best I’ve gotten are short stemmed funky ones. Sob.
    XXOO Jan

  4. Joe Says:

    Hi Jan,

    Thanks for the comment. I look forward to seeing you this summer.

    Joe

  5. Guido Says:

    Wonderful pictures Joe!

  6. Joe Says:

    Thanks Guido, I hope that you like the others. I just published one that I had written about a month ago and one that I just wrote today.

    Joe

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