Sunday, February 13, 2011

A Walk Through Villa Melzi Gardens

Come take a stroll with us through the gardens of the Villa Melzi in Bellagio, Italy, on the shores of Lake Como.
We visited Bellagio about 7 years ago and loved it so much that last May we brought 13 friends (including my mother) back to Bellagio last May. May is a perfect time to visit, as the azaleas and rhododendrons are in bloom, and the hotel prices are lower than the summer peak season.
I liked the play of light highlighting the colors and shapes of these red leaves against the blue sky. Lake Como has elegant villas lining the shores. A few are open to the public on the inside, but many more have delightful gardens that can be toured.
Usually people look down when touring gardens. At times, the visual treats are also overhead, as in the leaves in my previous photo and the sun star piercing the tree in the photo above.
The Villa Melzi was built during the reign of Napoleon by a Duke who was the Vice President of Italy during Napoleon's reign. The mansion is classical and the gardens are English in design.
My husband took this photo of one of the fountains in front of the mansion at Villa Melzi. The mountain that you see is across Lake Como. Several weeks ago I posted a series of photos of the Villa Monastero across Lake Como on a very cloudy and overcast day. As you can see in this photo, the weather on the day we visited Villa Melzi could not have been better. After our morning walk in the Villa Melzi gardens, we took the slow boat from Bellagio all the way down to Como, stopping for lunch at the Villa d' Este, one of Europe's grand hotels, for a perfect day.

10 comments:

Celia na Italia said...

Beautiful photos and colors!

Traveling Hawk said...

Superb! The place is to dream about! I like your photos. Thanks for sharing them!

brattcat said...

Gorgeous.

Expats Again said...

We live in Munich and vacation at Lake Como, but I have never been here. Thanks, we will go this spring and see it.

Unknown said...

Such beautiful colours. The bottom composition is fantastic!

Jack said...

A beautiful Place, Julie. We were there in September 2008, if memory serves. Your photos being back good memories.

Kate said...

Gorgeous colours on the photos with foilage and flowers!

glenda said...

Ahhh, memories of lovely walks in Villa Meizi. So many lovely spots to sit and just enjoy the view. You have captured the beauty.

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