Spring! Spring!! Spring!!!

Many of us have endured an unusually long winter this year, spring being "behind" its expected arrival by about three or four weeks. But eventually, it has arrived, and what better way to celebrate it by using the best part of a Saturday for a walk in the park!
Maybe by now you are tired of seeing pictures of the same old park over and over again, but it never looks really the same; there is always something new or different to the previous time I went there.

My Mum and I enjoyed feeling the sun on our bare arms, sipping pumpkin secco on the patio outside the café and looking at the flowers - they were still somewhat hesitant by then, but almost exploding with colour and shape now, two weeks after these pictures were taken.

It was the first time I was able to wear the outfit I showed you here without risking a cold. In fact, we were in the sun for hours for the first time this season, wich lead to a slight headache for my Mum in the evening.

As you can see, most of the trees were still largely bare:

When there is a combination of my two favourite colours, blue and yellow, I simply can't resist.

This one is for you, Kay - I took it in the "Valley of Birdsong"!

Walking to the southernmost part of the park showed us that there is some work in progress. The "bald" patch in the 2nd picture below didn't look like this last time we came here, and it certainly will be laid out and planted in baroque patterns again, to keep the original symmetry.

Our path then lead us into the inner courtyard of the palace; the same one you've seen several times before on my blog, for instance in this post. This time, I am showing you some different detail:

If it does not rain tomorrow, my Mum and I will be back to the park. For the next five days, it will be hosting an exhibition for all things "garden" - from the useless to the immensely practical, from the eyesore to the beautiful. Last year, I showed you some of the exhibition here, and learned the word "gabion walls" from GB's comment (thanks, Graham, I've been impressing all sorts of people since then, knowing the proper term when they did not!). 

I hope the weather will be in favour of us going there again this year!