I had a couple of hours before lunch today and decided to take a walk up to Piazzale Michelangiolo so I could visit the Giardino dell’Iris. With dark clouds looming overhead, I packed an ombrello (umbrella) in my purse and flung my macchina fotografica (camera) around my neck before heading outside.
The air was cool, but I quickly warmed up hiking up the scale (stairs) to get to the piazzale. Once I arrived at the entrance, I walked down the stone steps in the Giardino dell’Iris to see as many of the irises as possible. I had visited the giardino (garden) once a few weeks ago and not many of the flowers were in bloom yet. I navigated the terrain to take some foto (photos) of the irises. I had some difficulty concentrating on one iris at a time because there would always be another iris that caught my eye.
When I arrived at the bottom of the giardino behind the small pond, it began to sprinkle. I headed back up the now slippery stone steps toward the exit along with the other visitors. I stopped next to a patch of irises and balanced my ombrello in one hand and raised my macchina fotografica with the other to take a few foto. I found the irises even more beautiful with drops of water on them.
I saw a group of people waiting under a tent and noticed that there was a patch of blue sky coming my way. Instead of leaving, I headed down the walkway to visit another section of the giardino, which was now deserted.
After a few minutes, the rain stopped and the sun came out again, this time brighter and stronger than before. I snapped a few foto and began walking through the muddy fields before the giardino closed at 12:30pm.
At one point, I felt I couldn’t take any more foto. The irises were almost intoxicating to look at. I loved seeing the amazing variety of irises, but I just couldn’t pick out one favorite. Each time I saw a new one with a different mix of colors, I thought that was my favorite.
I couldn’t wait to see my foto on my computer when I returned home and was happy to see how vibrant the irises were. As I reviewed the foto of the irises, their splendor touched me again as if I were looking at them for the first time.
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