Pines and poppies by TheWanderingCamel
The pines are always there, the poppies come in June.The Colosseum, the dome of St Peters, the rounded tops of the umbrella pine - all instantly recognisable and all identified inextricably with the skyline of Rome. With no really tall buildings to obscure them, the pines stand out along the crests of the hills as they have done for centuries. They line streets and avenues, Ostia Antica is shaded by them. Horace makes mention of them, Old Masters painted them, Respighi composed a symphonic poem to them. I love them.
The pines are always there, the poppies are much more ephemeral. Bright splashes of red, they stand out brilliantly against the grass that coveres the Palatine Hill, the quiet spaces of Ostia Antica and fragments of ancient marble that litter the Forum. No landscape gardener could have placed them more artfully - I love them too.
