ONE of the greatest charms of Italian landscape is 

 the winding shadow-path, outlined by tall cypress- 

 trees, which slowly ascends to church or shrine. 

 We cannot connect haste with it, for the roadway 

 appears to wander at leisure up the steep hillside, 

 choosing always a direction that lies most in shadow when 

 the noonday sun burns fiercest. 



Occasionally there are straight avenues leading direct 

 from a villa, so that no time is lost in running down to 

 catch one of those crowded little steam-trams that ply 

 between Florence and the country villages. The 

 cypresses which outline the grass path are planted so 

 close together that only two can walk abreast, and a dense 

 cool shadow is cast across the footway. Yet darker is the 

 shade where steps lead down to the highroad, because it 

 is here, in the half-circle formed by the tall trees, that a 

 pause is made to await the distant sound of the child's 

 tin trumpet betokening the approach of the conveyance 

 that speeds us to the city. 



Italian steps in gardens take a leisurely course and are 

 usually arranged so as to give many resting-places 

 between the ascents to different terrace-levels. There 

 are often two flights starting in opposite directions to gain 



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