People have been telling me for years that there are flamingos in Milan going around one of the city center villas. In my visualization of a habitat for flamingos, an Italian palazzo in one of the busiest cities in Europe wouldn’t make the list. So I finally decided to take matters in my hands and go check. I found the enchanted gardens of Villa Necchi Campiglio in a residential area known as the Quadrilatero del Silenzio (Silent Quadrilateral). The Liberty-style building was indeed keeping 8 flamingos in a pond, surrounded by sycamore trees. The villa is rarely opened to the public so I was peeking through the iron fence, as were doing many tourists who had this spot on their travel guides. I had an Alice in Wonderland moment, feeling like something magical and weird at the same time was happening.
If you haven’t seen flamingos in real life, this is a way to check it from your list. Even though, peeking from afar a flock of birds in a pond shouldn’t be considered an experience per se. I’m not checking it from my list yet. Instead, the next time I’m in the Venice area, I’ll make a short trip to the Comacchio Lagoons and practice some bird watching of flamingos in a more appropriate habitat.
