I've been lucky to have some time off of school, so I spent most of this week traveling around Europe. I visited two other countries: France and Italy. In France, I visited Paris, and in Italy, I visited Florence and Lucca. Many of the areas I visited were mobbed with tourists because of popular attractions or historical sites. I didn't come across very many natural areas in the middle of cities, but I did notice that the gardens and parks I did visit had some things in common.
One of the coolest things that I saw in nature this week was a small garden in Lucca, Italy. Like many of the green spaces I noticed in Italy, this garden had a number of statues, a serene water fountain and many trimmed hedges that made the scene feel very orderly and peaceful. The garden was behind a house that had been built for a noble family in the 1600s. The garden was square, with a manicured hedge that served as a wall on all four sides. There were different-colored roses on each side of the garden, and I walked past several grand sculptures and many beautiful flowers before arriving at a fountain at the center of the garden.
The garden is unique because it hasn't changed much in almost 400 years. It is a pretty awesome experience to read about the history and see pictures of a place, and then be able to go and actually experience it yourself.
