Boston Flora

Tag: Villa d’Este

  • Sunday, July 18, 1:00 pm – Italian Gardens: From Campania to Lombardy, Online

    Renaissance-era Italy has provided a plethora of marvels for modern travelers to explore. Too often overshadowed by paintings and sculptures held in museums, are Italy’s gorgeous gardens. These extravagant, breath-taking and innovative works of art revolutionized European garden design and which and still inspire present-day garden designers and guests. Today Italy’s remarkable gardens boast contemporary masterpieces as diverse as they are beautiful. During our time together in this seminar, we will take an adventure through a medley of glamorous public gardens in four distinct regions of Italy.

    Beginning from Rome and Campagna, we’ll stop by the hidden Vatican Gardens and Palazzo del Quirinale. Then we’ll proceed ahead to the spectacular Villa d’Este at Tivoli, the bizarre Bomarzo, the sublime Villa Lante, and the romantic Garden of Ninfa. 

    From there we set out for Florence and Environs, to experience the grandiose Boboli Gardens and the privately-owned Villa Torrigiani. We’ll also dive into the Medici villas at Castello, Petraia and Fiesole, the elegant Villa Gamberaia, and the private Fattoria di Celle with its world-renowned collection of site-specific sculpture. 

    We’ll conclude our journey with a stopover and Venice and travels through the lakes on Lombardy.  We’ll discover the extravaganza of Isola Bella and Villa Taranto on Lake Maggiore, and Villas Carlotta, Cicogna Mozzoni and Melzi on Lake Como.  Our conversation will also spotlight the Palazzo Malipiero, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, the Fondazione Querini Stampalia and the Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore in Venice

    Led by an expert on gardens and garden history, Dr. Toby Musgrave, this interactive seminar will showcase and celebrate a selection of Italy’s great and inspiring gardens. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with increased knowledge and understanding of Italy’s great and diverse, and inspiring botanical history.

    This seminar is a part of Context Learning’s ongoing series featuring International Gardens. For more details, please click here. $36.50. Register at www.contextlearning.com

  • Thursday, May 7 – Saturday, May 16 – Italy: Gardens, Roses, Cooking, and Culture

    Have you ever dreamed of visiting Italy in the Spring? This will be a wonderful garden tour – including Ninfa, Bomarzo and the Villa d’Este. Tour organizers Marco Giusti and Claudio Bernardoni are reliable and engaging. They are both trained Italian chefs, and they will be cooking several dinners in your villa as well! This will be a small group of 8 to 10 gardeners and there are only a few places left. Barbara DeRiso, MD, and member of Schenley Farms Garden Club in Pittsburgh is happy to answer any questions you may have, and to help you arrange to join this tour. Feel free to contact her at barbaraderiso@gmail.com.

    Itinerary:

    Thurs. May 7th
    Morning transfer from Rome Fiumicino International Airport to our hotel in Tivoli. Visit the town of Tivoli and see the fabulous fountains of the Villa d’Este gardens. Dinner in a typical trattoria in Tivoli.

    Fri. May 8th
    Early morning departure for a guided tour of Ninfa, a supremely romantic garden where flowers scramble over the ruins of a medieval town set on the banks of a crystalline river. Monty Don, the famous garden expert has called Ninfa “the most beautiful garden in the world”. Return to Tivoli for lunch. Visit the town of Tivoli and see the fabulous fountains of the Villa d’Este gardens, just about the most sumptuous you’ll see anywhere. Dinner in a restaurant.

    Sat. May 9th
    Transfer to our villa in the Tuscan countryside. On the way, we’ll visit Bomarzo, a garden like no other, immersed within a forest and filled with fantastic sculptures, and Villa Lante, one of Italy’s most beautiful Renaissance gardens. Arrival at the villa – a centuries-old stone villa with a pool, newly restructured and surrounded by a breathtaking landscape – in time for dinner.

    Sun May 10th
    First hands-on cooking lesson making traditional local dishes
    and creating a full-course Italian meal for lunch. Free time in the afternoon to lounge by the pool or to go for a walk in the local countryside. Dinner at the villa.

    Mon May 11th
    Visit the wine cellars of the Villa Sant’Anna vineyards, makers of Nobile di Montepulciano, one of the world’s finest wines. Taste some of their best bottles as you snack on cold cuts and cheese.Walking tour of the medieval and Renaissance hill town of Montepulciano with a lovely main square and its elegant 16th century church, built in golden travertine, finely situated at the end of a long avenue of cypresses.

    Tues May 12th
    Visit the Roseto Botanico ‘Carla Fineschi’, one of the world’s largest private collection of roses (the biggest in Europe) with a stopover in Arezzo. Walking tour of Arezzo, a stunning city, boasting many fine buildings, grand squares and an ancient annual Palio of its own. Dinner at the villa.

    Wed May 13th
    Guided walk through Pienza, an idyllic Tuscan town that began life as a model Renaissance city. Lunch in the villa. In the afternoon: a guided visit of the beautiful gardens of La Foce, the masterpiece of the great British garden designer and architect, Cecil Pinsent. Dinner at the villa.

    Thurs May 14th
    Walking tour of Siena, Italy’s loveliest medieval city, full of spectacular art treasures, the splendid Romanesque-Gothic cathedral and the magnificent, shell-shaped main square, where every year the Palio horse race takes place – an event which dates back to the 6th century. Lunch in a trattoria and dinner at the villa.

    Fri May 15th
    Morning: visit the beautiful abbey of Sant’Antimo, immersed in an idyllic Tuscan countryside where you might chance upon monks chanting in the church. Have a stroll in the quaint medieval town of Montalcino. Lunch at the villa. In the afternoon visit Bagno Vignoni, a medieval village where the central square is a pool of steamy water; and visit San Quirico D’Orcia, yet another village of old-world charm with an elegant 16th century garden. Dinner at the villa.

    Sat May 16th
    After breakfast, departure for Rome Fiumicino International Airport.

    Cost: € 2500,00
    (€ 150 ($168) discount if you share a room)

    All rooms in villa are en-suite with double or twin beds. The villa also has wi-fi.
    All payments must be made by bank transfer. Please contact alfrescoitaly@gmail.