Heaven on Earth !

It is now almost midnight in Rome and although I should be sound asleep, I am still reflecting on the glorious garden and memorable experiences we enjoyed today.

The highlight of which was visiting the Garden of Ninfa ...

Our usual welcome coffee stop after travelling out of Rome

Ninfa is located in the province of Latina in central Italy 

about an hour's drive from Rome.

       Looking through to the hill top village of Sermoneta

Its creation began in 1921 by Gelassio Gaetanti who was the son of Lady Adele(Ada)Bootle Williamson(his English mother))and Onorato Caetani, Duke of Sermoneta(his Italian father.

Built on the medieval ruins of a once thriving and prosperous Etruscan toll city which fell into decline in the 1300's, Ninfa 

was featured in the BBC series presented by the rather appealing Monty Don.
Most women I know seem to think he could leave his galoshes at the door of their garden shed anytime, but moving on ...

In the episode on Italian gardens Monty Don enthused that Ninfa 
"was the most romantic garden in the world" and all in our group 
heartily agreed.

This garden can only be visited with a guide and we were most fortunate to have the wife of the director of the garden 

show us around in a most gracious and informative way.

Stella, our charming and knowledgeable guide

For the next two hours we wandered in awe with the garden all to ourselves apart from the team of five gardeners who manage the 

8 hectares of landscaped garden that lies within the 105 hectares 

of surrounding park land ... 

Here are just a few of my many photos which I have to admit

 do the Garden of Ninfa very little justice, but may transport 

you to a magical place even for a brief moment.

We all drank the crystal clear water from the source of the spring

Time to leave this very special place called Ninfa with visual memories etched in our imaginations forever ...