They have
simply selected the rainy season for their visit; and one cannot expect
to have sun the whole year through, without intermission. Where will
they find more sun in the same season? where will they find milder and
softer air? Days even in the middle of winter, and sometimes weeks,
descend as it were from heaven to fill the soul with delight; and a
lovely day in Rome is lovelier than under any other sky on earth. But
just when foreigners go away in crowds, the weather is settling into
the perfection of spring, and then it is that Rome is most charming.
The rains are over, the sun is a daily blessing, all Nature is bursting
into leaf and flower, and one may spend days on the Campagna without
fear of colds and fever. Stay in Rome during May, if you wish to feel
its beauty.
The best rule for a traveller who desires to enjoy the charms of every
clime would be to go to the North in the winter and to the South in the
spring and summer. Cold is the speciality of the North, and all its
sports and gayeties take thence their tone. The houses are built to
shut out the demon of Frost, and protect one from his assaults of ice
and snow. Let him howl about your windows and scrawl his wonderful
landscapes on your panes and pile his fantastic wreaths outside, while
you draw round the blazing hearth and enjoy the artificial heat and
warm in the social converse that he provokes.
Pages:
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191