Scents of flowers drift through the high-vaulted Mediterranean hall. In the center is a small patio with a mirror of water laid in Italian marble framed by a low green myrtle hedge and columns of rose-colored sandstone. Here bougainvillea climb close to the old olive tree, accompanied by several other important fruit trees commonly grown in Southern Europe, yielding figs, almonds, oranges and pomegranates. Grape vine is cultivated on terraces of limestone with flowering bulbs of the season growing underneath. The crop plants are surrounded by the native flora of the Mediterranean area, seen in small landscapes. There, forest trees like cork oak and aleppo pine are rising among shrubs forming an almost impenetrable maquis. On the slope close to the dwarf fan palm, brooms and rock roses are flowering beside oregano, sage, thyme and rosemary.