Dacha (Russian: дача) is a name for summer home or vacation house in Russia and CIS countries where people spend their summer holidays and grow fruits and vegetables for their own use. Dachas began to appear after WWII owing to the desire of city people, all living in blocks of flats, to spend some time close to nature, and to grow their own produce. Dachas are usually situated on the city outskirts, or near villages located close to a city. The common term for a dacha owner is 'dachnik' (Russian: дачник).Continuing with the scents that remind me of my childhood, L’Ombre dans L’Eau and Virgilio bring back the memories of my great grandparents and their dacha. Diptyque’s Virgilio, with notes of cedar, basil, thyme, and vetiver, was created by Diptyque to evoke the clear morning of a classical Latin landscape. The landscape it brings to my mind is Russian, not Latin, but it is fresh, green and idyllic nevertheless. Smelling Virgilio is akin to standing in the farthest and the darkest corner of my great-grandparents garden, by the wormwood overgrowth. Virgilio to me is that dark green, earthy and bitter scent of wormwood. This isn’t an easy fragrance for me to wear, as I am not really a fan of herbal and green scents, but I am holding on to my bottle if only for the incredible, heartbreaking evocativeness of this scent.
