Somewhere near the Slovenia/Italy border. We returned to Europe this year, post-pandemic, and Charlie vowed it was going to be a long one to make up for lost time. Our six week travel schedule began the beginning of April and ended mid-May, and as we traveled through parts of Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, and then north to Ireland and Sweden, a colorful spring unfolded before us.
While we were surrounded by flowers, both wild and commercial, there were certain places where the wildflower discoveries took center stage. The first place was in a little art park called Park Pecno. We were in the town of Kanal, Slovenia in the Soca river valley, exploring and looking for a hike. Park Pecno is a hidden place, with secret sculptures revealing themselves as if they are the natural inhabitants of the surrounding forest and floras.
The day after visiting Kanal, we drove up into Triglav National Park for a hike. Here, with the splendid Julian Alps as our backdrop, we found many familiar early spring faces – hellebores, primroses, snowdrops, and crocus.
Urbino countryside. Our next big wildflower encounter was along the country lane which led from our lodging outside the medieval walled hill town of Urbino. A quiet evening walk yielded a friendly neighbor and roadside flower attractions, including our first encounters with what was to be several species of orchids.
Matera magic. In planning our trip this time around, inspiration came from many sources. Charlie is often following a food trail. We also found an Italian series which took place in a town called Matera, a city of rock and caves, once one of the country’s poorest places, and now a UNESCO site. This ended up being one of my favorite destinations on the trip, not just for its fascinating history and architecture, but also because it was here that we found the wildflowers of the Italian spring in full force.
We had to climb over a tourist-discouraging (not us!) fence and traverse a swinging bridge (I’m so brave!) to get to the fields below the town. The hillsides were crammed with flowers, familiar and new, and fascinating orchids, just doing their usual thing while we gawked and took photos. The setting for this colorful bowl was a spectacular Matera rising up out of the surrounding rock.
Irish spring. After much more of Italy and her lovely spring, we headed north, to Ireland, with a big change in the landscape and the weather. The flowers here are the ones that endure and embrace the wild coastline of the Dingle peninsula. I love how big bundles of pink armeria hug the cliffs and how the fuschias grow into huge bushes that line the roadways.
Our European holiday ended in Stockholm, where Spring was just getting underway. Trees were beginning to flower, tulips were popping up, and the markets were bursting with fresh bouquets. We returned home to our own spring, and from another great adventure made even more memorable because of the wildflowers along the way.
