I left my heart at...

...Parco Burcina, a landscape garden in Piedmont region (Italy), founded in the mid-19th century by Giovanni Piacenza, a wool industrialist, and situated in the Municipalities of Biella and Pollone.

I must go back sometimes... to visit my heart and to take more and better photos. Oh, I wish I had had a digital camera when I was living in Italy!

We visited the park in May many years ago; that day it had been raining before we arrived and the air was fresh and fragrant with scents from the grand conifers of the park. The valley of rhododendrons is stunning. On the internet, you can find many photos (much, much better than these!) depicting the valley from above, but imagine yourself rambling among the shrubs, surrounded by all those colours...

By myself, I followed a path leading to the top of the hill. Noisy schoolchildren and other visitors were left far behind, and I found serene small meadows and young birches with leaves of the most delicate green.  

The colours and light  are particularly bad in the photo below, but it shows the position of the park on a hill.

We saw pleasant views also on our way back home. Oasi Zegna is a freely accessible nature park in the Biella Alps. It was created by the entrepreneur Ermenegildo Zegna, founder of the homonymous factory that makes men's clothing and accessories.

Some old photos taken in our garden (in Italy):

Awful colours, but dear memories:

One of my favourites, Azalea japonica 'Palestrina':

♥