Venice is surrounded by water, there is water everywhere. Big canals, small canals, lagoons, everywhere there is water lapping at your feet. At first glance the city appears to be stone, every kind of stone, a landscape of brick walls, white paving stones and every architectural man-made detail imaginable. However on closer inspection you start to notice here and there, an little ivy climbing of the top of a wall.
Or you pick up the odor of a flower somewhere. But you really can't readily see much greenery. But if you start looking for it, you can find some plants in pots on the ground floor, or window boxes higher up, or whole balconies filled with plants.
You may be surprised that hidden behind or within the buildings back from the canals there is over five hundred gardens with Venice. Some small and some not-so-small. A wide variety from formal English gardens complete with boxwood hedges to full rose gardens. Some are vegetable gardens and some are designed to just give some peace and shade in which to enjoy nature.
When you think of Venice, gardens is probably not the first thought to your mind. But the next time you visit, you might take some time to seek out one of these Venice gardens to enjoy.
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