Garden Fix: Little Known Secret Italian Garden

I didn't actually visit this location...it was after that I learned about Villa D'Ayala in Valva, Italy (near Salerno & Napoli). I fell in love with the amphitheater after seeing an image in House & Garden (I think)...I've still got the clipping, but name isn't on the page.

I have this weird fascination with all things lost...deserted buildings, shipwrecks, Atlantis, "discarded" busts...this is how I started out in the cultural anthropology field at first in college. Okay, back to Villa D'Ayala & the "discarded" busts. Call me strange (I do), but I think that this is enchantingly beautiful...ethereal, really. 

These busts have a home again. Uh huh, you say.  Well, my specific thing with busts started after visiting the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence (you know, the one that the David statue is at...okay). So, after you see the David, hang a left & at the end there is a room filled with various statues & shelves filled with busts.

Ta-dah...When staring at all of the busts, it dawned on me that they were sculpted to represent an actual person. A person that had their own family and story to tell. That bust was most likely in a residence & through the years somehow ended up on a shelf in a museum for gawking tourists to take bad photos of & telling friends that, oh yeah, David did have a big pecker. It's sad & beautiful at the same time. Okay, so that's how I started up with the eccentric fascination for what I consider "discarded" busts & why I love how the busts at the Villa D'Ayala have a home...

Tourist-y info about Valva, Italy & Villa D'Ayala here.

This is not a major US tourist destination, but they actually hold concerts there & International Film Festivals. Some of the Italy tour packages for Campania region make it a day-trip...but I am not a big fan of the blink-and-you-miss-a-city tour packages. The culture & feel of a place just get lost in all that itinerary nonsense!

Hope you're inspired!

♥-Kat.

Garden Fix: Sources of inspiration found (Isola Bella on Lago Maggiore in Italy)

Once upon a time there was a girl that traveled to to lake that divided Italy from Switzerland.

On that lake was an island that was once ruled by a noble family for many years.

On that island was a house (hmph) that the noble family lived in for many centuries.

Surrounding that house were extensive beautiful gardens.

Beautiful gardens that housed such exotic creatures as albino peacocks...

and enchanting statues...

and don't forget captivating views.

And then that girl came back home & used everything that she saw to use as inspiration in her art and jewelry.

So my gradmother's garden & greenhouse were nowhere near this grand, but all that time I spent with her either working on her flowers or crafts definately rubbed off on me. Oh, and if you're wondering where the pictures were taken - here you go: Isola Bella (fitting, "Beautiful Island") on Lago Maggiore in northern Italy bordering Switzerland. Links to more history & travel specific info here.

Hope you're inspired!

♥ -Kat.