Rome wasn't built in a day: the Liberation of Italy & Villa Borghese gardens

On Thursday, I had a nice picnic with some friends of mine in Villa Borghese, so today I'd like to share some information and pics with you.

First of all, Thursday was April 25th, the day we celebrate the Liberation of Italy, that is the end of the Nazy occupation as well as the end of the Ventennio era of fascist government. On that day, back in 1945, the Italian Resistance Movement chased away the occupation in Northern Italy and that day was taken as a symbol of the end of the Second World War. What I would like to convey to my non-Italian readers is that the 25th of April 1945 is an important day  - a national holiday from 1946 onwards - for my country and it's a day to remember.

Google Images - Partisan women belonging to the Resistance Movement

But what do the Italians do to remember?
We usually spend that day with our families and friends, we celebrate love and friendship, we cook and eat together and play and have fun. And since in April the weather is fine - sometimes, I'd say it's gorgeous, but others it unfortunately rains - we have picnics in the town parks or outside the town/city or we go to the lake or to the hills/mountains or to the seaside or we visit some cities of art or we stay at home and have barbecues with our friends and chill out.

As for me, I had a nice picnic in Villa Borghese and chilled out and talked a lot and played Dixit with A., C., and D.,

while our neighbours were playing Twister,

And we were not alone!

My pics could probably strengthen the stereotype that we are lazy people and we eat a lot and we are talkative, but it's not like that. A few hours later, we had a nice walk to get an ice cream! ;) LOL

(I'm sorry for the next pics - they are not bright, 'cause they were taken at around 7 p.m. and the sun was almost gone. We were too busy to eat and relax before! LOL) 
This place is called Giardino del Lago and the little temple on the background is the Temple of Aesculapius, aren't the lovely?

As you can see, it is possible to rent a lttle boat and have a ride - it's 3 euros per person for 20 minutes; 1,50 euros for children.

Watch out for tiny sharks disguised as huge goldfish! ;)

So, as I mentioned before, we had an ice cream here,

but I don't recommend it, because it's too expensive - 3 euros for an ice cream and just 5 or 6 flavours to choose -, the whipped cream was not as cold as it should be and then, the ice cream guy ran out of cones and took a broken one from the bin asking me: "Is that ok, even though it's broken?" And I replied: "Did you take it from the bin?" "I ran out of cones, this is the last one!" "Did you take it from the bin?" He pretended not to understand me (he was not Italian) and, of course, I went for a cup. I think I had to complain with the boss, but now it's too late. Anyway, there are loads of gelaterie, so have a good gelato before entering Villa Borghese gardens or after your walk in the park, when you'll need something to get refreshed. ^_^

Villa Borghese is a large park in the heart of Rome which can boast several kinds of landscape gardens (Italian, English, and so on) and contains several buildings, museums, fountains, lakes and attractions - did you know there's a reproduction of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre? ;)

With its 80 hectares, Villa Borghese is one of the largest parks of the city and has got 9 entrances - I got in by the entrance located in piazzale Flaminio (metro A, orange line), where, after a 3-minute walk, you can find the Fountain of Aesculapius (aka Fontana del Fiocco),

isn't it beautiful? ^_^
As soon as I get back, I'll show you something more of this amazing park. We'll discover it together little by little.

In the end, let me spend some lines for a personal consideration.
Since time went by and new generations were born, the feeling we have for this holiday has changed a bit and I have to say that we can't fully realize what our ancestors did almost 70 years ago, because we weren't there. At the same time, nowadays, my generation aims for a new Liberation Day - without arms, but armed with culture -, because we want, need and deserve a better future. 

Google Images