Friday 3 May 2013

Caserta Reggia

      Today we went the gardens in Caserta Reggia. My friends here kept telling me how amazing it was and how much I would love it because they knew how I loved nature and trees (something you don't see on a regular basis here in Naples), so this day we had all planned to go there in a large group of friends. Before we entered the gardens (and without my approval) three of my friends covered my eyes and lead me out the entrance and finally uncovered them. It was a green, grassy field with a big trail down the middle that went on and on straight forward, there were big, tall trees lining the edges of the land and horse-drawn carriages all over on the trails. I was happy to see the green and the grass, but what I was most anticipating was the big lake and the great big climbing trees and forest I had been hearing about.
                 We all took the first left on the trail to the forest and I couldn't help but touch and feel all of the leaves and trees I missed so much. The birds were chirping and singing and a creek was flowing nearby, it was shaded and green all over, just as I had lived with back at home in the states. I was in heaven. The lake we were headed to was man-made, but still it was beautiful with the geese (we even saw a red slider turtle) and these monstrous, gray fish swimming near the surface. There was word of a swan who lived in the lake but he didn't seem to be out at that time, there was a little goose island in the middle of the lake and he was suspected to be resting there in the the shade.  
           After we all ate lunch near the creek, we all raced to the big climbing trees (I didn't know where they were so I just followed). I kicked off my shoes an leaped limb to limb almost to the top. Both of the trees were giant magnolias and had bark as slippery as nothing else so even I was cautious in my climbing. My friends Camryne, Janay, Alaina and Anna and I sat there for a while, some kicking off socks and dropping them on another one's head (especially me since I had the highest limb). All of the older kids were messing around in the tree next to us and we could only hear them yelling and laughing. When we got back down, there was word of a pinecone fight and my friend Cecily grabbed a pinecone and threw at her boyfriend and it started an actual pinecone fight so I backed out and kept my distance in order to avoid getting hurt.
                     Later on, we were on our way on the long, paved road down the middle to the English gardens. It got increasingly hotter every hour or so, so my friends Alain, Anna and I kept our shoes off and every once in a while, stuck our feet in the long fountain that followed the road next to it. Shoes remained off until we went into the English gardens (which are sacred) where the rules were to wear shoes, no littering, no start ding under the trees (I thought that was absolutely ridiculous) and no walking on the grass.
          The English gardens were very beautiful and completely surrounded by a variety of trees, and in the spring time, it felt just magical with all of the colors of the flowers and trees. Often when no one else was around, one of us would step a little closer onto the grass to get a better look at the existing nature beyond. We also found a bamboo forest where we got lots of pictures of us in it (though it wasn't allowed).