We’re staying at this place in Berkeley called the Rose Garden Inn. It’s small, more of a bed-and-breakfast, and is very pleasant if you’re OK with rather a lot of twee. The grounds, while small, are beautifully landscaped with flowers and fountains and quite a lot of those concrete statues that make me think of cemeteries or perhaps Versailles. Indoors, the furnishings include lots of floral fabrics, dried flower arrangements, and hand-painted wall murals of floral themes.
Then today, they got started with their Halloween decoration. So the entryway, already graced with a vine-draped trellis, has been adorned with a large inflatable arch of black fabric topped by a smirking vampire. The back garden features a leering skull in long, drapy shroud, right next to the statue of some classical-looking woman gathering flowers in a concrete basket. Indoors, candles and ghosts and cauldrons compete with chintz and scented candles…
I rather like the effect. Nightmare before Valentine’s, anyone?
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