In The Flowers

Thursday found Carmen on a 2.5 hour tour of the main Villa La Pietra and its pretty pretty backyard/garden setup.  The initial part was given by the grounds' head gardener and the overseer of the restoration.  He was a Brit, probably named Nigel, who came to La Pietra for a six month sabbatical and has been here for more than a decade.  Nigel is kinda like a funny accented Kenny Leaver on histological steroids.  Here's some facts Carmen learned on the garden portion of the tour:

1.  La Pietra was erected in 1467 by the Medici, hotshot Italian bankers.  The Medici sold the property to The Caponi, which means castrated rooster in Italian, who lent it out to cousins who sold it to The Sesetti, who sold it to the Actin's who restored it and filled it with endless art and statues and then bequeathed it to NYU.

2.  Pre 20th-Century, it was a fun time to have an outdoor stage where families could host parties, concerts, plays.  When NYU restored La Pietra's outdoor stage The Royal Shakespeare Company performed featuring DAME JUDI DENCH.

3.  The garden's inlays are baroque, but the garden itself is Renaissance-revival.  Interesting!

4.  During the Renaissance period, whole harvests would be lost in winter and thus walled gardens were constructed to protect against the wind, but after the advent of the railroad, it became much easier to buy imported food and the walled garden was antiquated.  The walls remain.

5.  In winter, lemons were grown in a special indoor, big-windowed room called a lemon room.  The staff at La Pietra still grow the lemons, distributing them to the students in April.

Stay Tuned for The Inside Part of the Tour!