Exploring the Italian Countryside in Vulci and Cosa

When I think of the Italian landscape, the first thing that comes to my mind is its major metropolitan centers:  the ancient ruins in Rome, the art in Florence, the canals of Venice, and the high fashion of Milan.  I suppose I'm just so used to seeing references to these cities in American culture that I felt I had a sense of them long before I ever actually visited.  Of course, as a nature-lover, my mind then quickly turns to the miles and miles of gorgeous Italian coastline.  (Honestly, if we could just move Florence to the location of Naples, it just might be the world's most perfect city.)

Campagna

Somehow, though, I always manage to forget that a huge portion of Italy is actually countryside (and I'm not just talking about the vineyards in Tuscany, either).  There are huge expanses of rolling hills, mountains, and even valleys and plains.  Every once in a while I'll get a glimpse of the campagna ("countryside"). You only have to run or bike about 8 miles out of Rome before you start seeing fields (and even sheep), and, when looking out the window while landing at the airport, I really felt like the pilot took a wrong turn and we were somewhere in Iowa rather than Italy.  But, despite these isolated occurrences, we haven't spent much time getting to know this part of Italy's landscape.

Vulci

Fortunately, last Friday, we finally had the chance to see a bit of it, when the Academy hosted a day-trip to a couple of sites about two hours north Rome.  Our first stop was, Vulci, which is an Etruscan City largely known for its ancient tombs.  The area has been developed as an "archeological park," and so there's a lot to please both history and nature enthusiasts.

We first toured a couple of these tombs, which Tom, of course, loved, and I found fairly interesting. The past archeological practice had been to strip out most anything you could (such as wall paintings or artifacts) and put them into a museum, so, if you don't know much about the site, it really just feels a bit like exploring a small cave.  My favorite part, though, might have been the graffiti, which said things like, "Paul was here- 1906."  Somehow, I think of graffiti as a modern development, but it's clearly not (in fact, you can actually see ancient graffiti in places like Pompeii).  

We then made our way over the river, which separates the two sides of the Park.  Unfortunately, we had to drive since heavy rainfalls destroyed the bridges last year, but it was well-worth taking the long way around. On the other side, we found the ruins of old city buildings,  rolling hills, horses, cows, and sheep, and even a small castle along the river bank.

Castle Near the River

Beautiful Scenery

Hungry Horse

Tom and I brought sandwiches along, so while some of the other visitors stopped for lunch in a small cafe, Tom, I, and another fellow traveler took a walk over to river.  We were able to find a spot to cut through some shrubs, and then scrambled down to a rocky ledge.  From there, we  had fabulous views of the river, bridges, and the castle, and for the brief twenty or so minutes that we were out there, I swear that the sun shined brighter and the temperature shot up (I literally went from wearing a coat and mittens to a t-shirt in a matter of minutes).

(Dirty-Looking but) Pretty River

Enjoying the Sun out on the Rocks

After lunch, we got back on the bus and drove over to the ancient Roman site of Cosa, where the American Academy had been involved in excavations during much of the 20th Century.  Unfortunately, I have to admit that I'm a bit lacking on the historical and archaeological details since I forgot to pay attention, but really there was so much natural beauty in the area that it was almost impossible not to get distracted.

Although Cosa is less developed than Vulci (at least for tourism purposes), if you know where you're going (which, luckily our guide did), you can find some really spectacular views, including glimpses of the sea.  I had a great time just wandering around the site and taking in all of the scenery.  The late afternoon light was especially beautiful, and really illuminated all of the greenery.  I can only imagine what it looks like in the spring and summer time!

Farmland

The Sea

Walking Along the Ruins

Cosa

Speaking of spring, this day-trip left me longing for more time in the country, so I started looking into the nearby region of Umbria (which you can get to pretty easily and cheaply from Rome).  I learned that April and May are wildflower season, so hopefully I'll be able to report back with more from the (poppy-covered) Italian countryside in the next couple of months.

Alla Prossima,
Erin

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Sat. Feb. 23:  I should have realized that spring temperatures would also mean spring rain!  It's warmer, but rainy and ridiculously windy.  Oh well, I'll be complaining about the heat soon enough, I'm sure!