April Showers Bring May Flowers

Before I get into the real subject of this post, I should probably clarify something about title.  "April showers" is actually a bit of a misnomer.  We keep waiting for summer to come, but it's actually been cold, windy, and often rainy for much of this month, too (so cold, in fact, that the Academy recently moved meals from outside back inside last week!)  At this rate, I'm skeptical that I'm ever going to make use of all of the tank tops and sundresses that I packed!

Academy Courtyard (covered in beautiful but sneeze-producing flowers)

In any case, though, if you can manage to escape the rain, May is actually a really beautiful time to be in Rome.  Absolutely everything here is in bloom, the streets are filled with al fresco dining options, and the entire city feels revived after a relatively sleepy winter.  (Incidentally, my allergies are also revived- I swear, I've sneezed more in the past month than I have in all the 30 years leading up to it.)

So, when we've gotten breaks in the rain over the past few days, I decided to load my pockets with kleenex, and check out two of the best places in Rome to enjoy spring:  the rose garden and the botanical gardens.

Rose Garden

I visited the rose gardens on my own one very windy day last week (while Tom was finishing up some work).  It's easy to get to-it's just across from the Circus Maximus (and open from about Mid-May through June).  The park was actually two small parks (separated by a small road), but each side was packed with hundreds of varieties of roses.  It was incredibly beautiful, and actually reminded me a little of the Lake Harriet Rose Garden (back in Minneapolis).  And best of all, it's completely free!

Despite the hordes of tourists down by the Circus Maximus (and the nearby Forum and Colosseum),  the rose garden was surprisingly empty.  Perhaps it's off most people's radar, or maybe most tourists don't want to "waste time" seeing something that they could see in their hometown.  But, if you ask me, that's a rather narrow view, because I'm pretty sure most of their hometown rose gardens don't have views of a ancient ruins in the background.  Of course, though, I was perfectly happy having this garden practically to myself (especially after battling through crowds around the Colosseum to get there)!  It'd be a great spot to spend the afternoon with a book (which perhaps I'll do on a less windy day in the near future).

More Rose Garden

Even More Rose Garden (with Palatine Hill in Background)

Tom in the Botanical Garden (with a new haircut and our trusty map)

Then today, Tom and I finally made a visit to the botanical garden that's right here in our own neighborhood.  We've probably walked by the "entrance" up here on the Gianicolo Hill a hundred times, but in typical Italian fashion, the gate was always closed and locked.  As we learned from our friends who scoped it out first, it turns out that that they actually only sell tickets at another gate, which is a ten minute walk down the hill.  Again, if you ask me (which no one ever seems to do), they'd do much better keeping both gates open.  I can't tell you how many times confused-looking people have stopped me near the locked gate to ask how to get into the garden (and so I'm sure the they are  missing out on lots of entrance fees).  But running businesses efficiently doesn't exactly seem to be a priority around here!

Water Fountain Stairway (and me)

Still, I'm glad we took the time to figure out how to get into the garden, because we really enjoyed seeing it.  It doesn't necessarily stack up to some of the other botanical gardens I've seen (like in Brooklyn or Berkeley), but it was still very pretty and (as an added bonus) occasionally provided great views of the city.  There were herb gardens, flower gardens, a Japanese garden, a bamboo forest, a beautiful stairway fountain, and something called an "evergreen wood" (although we found this a bit confusing, since we couldn't locate even a single evergreen).  And, on the way out, we were able to sneak out of a hole in the fence near the locked entrance, and ended up practically back at the Academy!

Amazing Flower (anyone know what this is?!)

View of Rome From the Gardens

Bamboo

It's also a good thing that we got a chance to connect with nature and relax a bit because this week is going to be busy.  All of the trustees of the Academy are in town, and so there are a whole slew of new people here and tons of events (concerts, cocktail parties, ceremonies, open studios, etc.) happening every day.  And, on Friday Tom will be leading some of the trustees on a walk through the Forum.

Now, I know what you're thinking, and, yes, this week will be a lot of fun and, yes, we are extremely lucky to be here among so many interesting and talented people.  But, for a couple of introverts like us, meeting so many new people and having so many social engagements in a short period of time can also be a bit overwhelming and exhausting!  Still, we're also looking forward to all of the wonderful experiences this week will bring.  And, if it gets to be too much, perhaps I will have to sneak back through that hole in the fence into the botanical gardens!  

Alla Prossima,
Erin

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Mon. May 27:  Finally a day of sun after a couple of cold and rainy weeks!  Still, the highs have been about 10 degrees colder than normal.  And it's been freezing at night!  I'm ready for summer now, please!

A Day in Sperlonga: Beaches, Caves, and Crazy Statues

One of my favorite things about living in Rome is the ability to hop on a train, spend only an hour or so of your time (and only about ten bucks), and wind up somewhere completely different from where you started. As you may have noticed, Tom and I are trying to do this as often as possible before our time here is up, and so today we headed down to Sperlonga with a couple of our friends from the Academy.

Sperlonga

Sperlonga is a small coastal town about halfway between Rome and Naples.  The beautiful (and clean!) sandy beach stretches for miles, and at the height of summer hundreds of people flock daily to its umbrella covered lounge chairs to relax and sip on fruity drinks.  However, perhaps the area hasn't quite caught on with tourists that way that Amalfi or Cinque Terre has yet because, even on a warm Saturday in May, it was still fairly quiet.  

Like all of the Italian coast that I've seen, the landscape is absolutely stunning.  The old (often white washed) buildings are charming, and the surrounding land is brilliantly green and blue, hilly and rocky, and there are all kinds of interesting plants and flowers everywhere you look (including cactuses (or is it cacti?) and trees producing little pods that looked like beans).  It's really no surprise, then, that Sperlonga was a resort town even in ancient times.

Wildflowers

Villa Ruins

In fact, one of the main attractions in town are the ruins of an enormous seaside villa (which many claim belonged to the Roman emperor Tiberius). The highlight of the villa is the huge cave/grotto, which served as a dining room. Inside, diners would have enjoyed sweeping views through the cave's opening out to the ocean.  They also would have been surrounded by pools of water and beautiful statues, many of which are now housed in a nearby museum.  Not too shabby, huh?

The most prominent statue (which would have sat in the center pool) depicted a scene from the Odyssey where the monster Skylla attacked the ship.  This crazy looking statue is a bit difficult to figure out (especially since only some of it survives today), but it makes a bit more sense if you know that Skylla was a beautiful woman from the waist up and a pack of barking dogs from the waist down (if you can imagine that).  Still, I swear that one of the figures actually looks MUCH more like an embarrassed pig (who's holding his hand over his face like "how did I get myself into this mess?!")

Statue in Museum (Don't even try to tell me the figure highlighted in purple isn't an embarrassed pig!!)

Tom "Dining" in the Cave/Dining Room (and fish in the pool)

View From Inside the Cave (The ship statue would have been in this pool).

Our (Failed?) Attempt at Traditional Roman Portraiture (on built-in stone seats!)

Looking Back Toward the Villa

In any case, we spent most of the morning wandering around the museum and villa, and then headed out to the beach.  Unfortunately, though, the wind picked up and the sun was being a bit fickle, so Tom was the only one daring enough to actually swim.  Despite figuring that his body temperature dropped about ten degrees in the water, he claims that he had a good time.  And the rest of us at least enjoyed watching him from our warm towels.

Beach!

Back in town

Afterward, we had a late pizza lunch, caught the bus back to the train station, the train back to Rome, a cab back to the Academy, and made it back in time to do some grocery shopping before dinner.  It was a quick trip, but a fantastic one (how can anything involving sun, caves, and beaches not be?), and the four of us are already on to planning our next exciting day-trip adventure.

Alla Prossima,
Erin

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Sun. May 12:  The mild spring weather continues with highs in the 70s and a mix of sun and clouds.

Villas and Grottos and Monsters, Oh My!

We're in the midst of a holiday season here in Rome.  First, last Sunday (April 22nd) it was Rome's 2766th Birthday (complete with parades in the street), last Thursday (April 25th) it was Liberation Day (where Italy celebrates being liberated from the Fascists at the end of WWII), and next Wednesday (May 1) is International Workers Day (basically the equivalent of Labor Day in the US).  A lot of Italians take the week between Liberation Day and Worker's Day off  of work, so between that, the warmer weather, and increased numbers of tourists, Rome has been feeling a bit too crowded lately!

The Town of Caprarola

Fortunately, on Friday Tom and I got the chance to get out of town on an Academy sponsored day-trip in Northern Lazio. Lazio is also the region of Italy that Rome is in, but when you get even 15 miles out of town, it feels like a different world.  So, by the time we were an hour and a half out of Rome (near Viterbo) we were basically out in the country in a land full of green rolling hills, dense forests, and cute little Medieval towns.

Our trip had three major stops:  Villa Farnese, Villa Lante, and, finally, Sacro Bosco (otherwise known as "Park of the Monsters"). Despite the gloomy weather, each place was absolutely spectacular in its own way.

Arial Shot of Villa Farnese (from internet)

In visiting the sites in this order, we moved from places that were more focused on indoor space (that perhaps flaunted the owner's wealth and power), to space that was focused on the outdoors and a connection with nature.  So, the main attraction our first stop, Villa Farnese, was the beautiful villa itself.

In the early 1500s, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (who later became Pope Paul III), commissioned the building of a fortress, which was also used as a summer estate for the Farnese family.  The building was designed in a pentagon shape, with its rooms situated around a circular courtyard.

Each room of the Villa was enormous, and was covered with beautiful wall and ceiling paintings, often corresponding with the room's use.  (A room used as a bedroom might be filled with dream-like images, for example.)  Many rooms walked out to balcony space around the courtyard, and beautiful giant spiral staircases connected the building's different levels.  Although absolutely stunning, the Villa was perhaps bit too large and ornate for my personal tastes, but I'm pretty sure that Tom is already making plans to move in.

Inside the Villa Farnese

Ceiling of Spiral Staircase 

The Circular Courtyard

But wait... There's more!  Outside, the Villa Farnese has both "lower" and "upper" garden areas (separated by a 5 minute uphill hike).  Even though the gardens seem a bit like an afterthought to the building, they were still equally spectacular, filled with sculptures, fountains, and maze-like garden spaces.

Upper Gardens

Spitting Sea Creature and Garden Maze

More Fountains

Lower Gardens and Casini

Our second stop, Villa Lante, was my favorite location of the day.  Although it was also used as a country estate in the 1500s, the huge outdoor gardens overshadow the physical structures, and encourage outdoor living.  The indoor living space actually consisted of two casini ("little houses"), which are symmetrically situated on either side of the gardens.  

The gardens themselves are situated over several different levels, with each area having its own (but interconnected) water feature and distinct feel.  The lower gardens consisted of hedges sculpted into decorative patters, large ponds, and a beautiful central fountain.  The small second level of the gardens house the large circular Fontana dei Lumini ("Fountain of Lamps), whose jets were designed to look like the flames of oil lamps.  The next level contains a long stone table with a central water channel to keep bottles of wine cool, and the upper levels have additional fountains, and finally a (very mossy) grotto.

Gardens and Fountain

Pond Sculpture

Fontana dei Lumini

Table With Water Channel

More Fountains!

Mossy Grotto

View From the Third Level

Unfortunately, we only had about an hour to walk around the Villa Lante gardens, but I easily could have stayed the entire day- or a lifetime for that matter.  I used the think that the lifestyle of the rich and famous didn't appeal to me (with it's big stuffy mansions with endless rooms filled with uncomfortable furniture), but if I could trade that big mansion in for fancy gardens, I think it would suit me just fine!

Monster in Sacro Bosco

Our last stop of the trip, the Sacro Bosco ("Sacred Woods"), is a large wooded park, containing dozens of oversized statues carved out of the rock. This park, which was originally created in the 1500s, was rediscovered in the late 1800s, and turned into a privately run tourist attraction shortly thereafter.

Because the original pathways are now lost, there's no clear information on what order the statutes were intended to be viewed in, and it's not even clear what the purpose of the space was.  Theories range from the park being a place to philosophically contemplate life  (most of the sculptures are inscribed with thought provoking riddle-like phrases) to being a tribute to the owner's late wife (nevermind the fact that the owner had dozens of mistresses).

Giant Turtle!

Whatever, the purposes, though, it's still a lot of fun (in a Disneyland-esque way) to stroll around the woods and locate all of the crazy statues.  They had everything from giant turtles, to Hercules, to (my personal favorite) the face of a giant monster whose mouth you can walk inside of.

The park also contained a playhouse of sorts that was built at a huge slant so that walking around inside was completely disorienting.  When attempting to stand "straight" you'd actually be leaning at a huge angle, and so moving around was either really fun or completely nauseating (depending on your personal opinion).  

Crooked House 

Me (looking awkwardly scared)

Tom (doing his best Hercules impression- it may need some work)

On days like this one, I feel especially lucky to be part of the Academy community.  Without it, we would likely have never made it to these wonderful sites (since you need a car to get there), and we definitely wouldn't have had the chance to visit these places with so many knowledgeable and fun people.  I don't often post photos of/with these other people (since I don't know who would object to having their photo online), but we really have gotten to know so many fantastic people this year.   Sadly, some of these people will be leaving the Academy as soon as early June, but, as we prepare for our community pizza party and movie night this sunny Sunday afternoon, I'm going to continue to live in denial that any of us ever have to return to the real world!

Alla Prossima,
Erin

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Sun. April 28:  The last few days have been cold(er) and rainy, but today is looking beautiful.  We're expecting sun and temps in the 70s all week.

Day Trip to Orvieto: A Tale of Two Wells

Spring is definitely in full-force here in Rome.  Birds are chirping, flowers are blooming, our dinner plates are filled with fava beans and asparagus, and I've officially switched out my raincoat and boots for skirts and sandals.  I'm even writing this blog entry from the Academy's sunny 4th floor terrace.  Still, as wonderful as this is, the arrival of spring has been bitter-sweet, because it feels a bit like the beginning of the end.  I know, I know, woe is me.  I don't expect your sympathy, but (as much as I miss our family and friends) the idea of coming back to "real life" this fall still makes me a bit sad (especially since lucky Tom will get to spend a good chunk of next year in Italy again as a fellow at the Scuola Normale in Pisa).

Orvieto (the old town is up on the hill in the background)

Of course, though, I still have a lot to look forward to, and Tom and I are making a good effort to get some more sight seeing in this spring before it gets unbearably hot (which we hear happens in July and August).  With that in mind, we decided to a take a day-trip up to Orvieto yesterday.  

Orvieto is a small hill-top town located in the Umbria region of Italy, about 75 miles North of Rome.  Unfortunately, like many quaint little Italian towns, it's become a mecca for tourists (especially since a round-trip train ticket from Rome is only about 15 Euros), but it's definitely still possible to appreciate its charm (especially if you're willing to walk a bit off the beaten path).   

Fun on the Funicular

To be more specific, though, I should say that in modern times Orvieto actually consists of both the "new" part (located at the base of the hill, down by the train station), the old city up on the hill.  To get between them, Orvieto's 20,000 residents and countless visitors just need to take a quick one minute ride on the the surprisingly smooth and quiet funicular (which is basically a cable car). And the old city is actually quite old. Although many of the current structures are Medieval, Orvieto began as an Etruscan settlement, and then became part of the Roman Empire around 300 B.C.  After the fall of the Empire, it remained relevant due to its location between Rome and Florence, and (perhaps for that same reason), it remains a popular spot today.    

Typical Orvieto View

Orvieto's biggest claims to fame are probably its Duomo, its 14th century well, and its overall "character," meaning picturesque streets and amazing views of the surrounding countryside.  There are, of course, some museums and a few other points of interest, but given our short visit, Tom and I spent most of the day just walking around town, admiring the architecture, and taking in those amazing views.  Oddly, the square around the Duomo was swarming with tourists, but we practically had the park with the scenic overlook to ourselves.  I haven't spent much time in Tuscany (other than a few days in Florence), but I imagine the landscape is similar to the kind that all of those movie and book heroines seek out when they flee to Tuscany to recover from a bad breakup/find themselves/meet a cute Italian guy (in that order).  And who can blame them?  After spending half an hour gazing out to the variously colored and textured plots of land, I didn't have a care in the world (other than, maybe, where to get my next gelato fix).

Rooftops

Cool Architecture

Views of the Countryside

Me (right) and the Castle Tom Plans to Buy (left)

Duomo

Pozzo della Cava

Perhaps the funniest part of our trip, though, was our attempt to see the famous Orvieto well.  Tom and I didn't have a guidebook (or a map) with us, so we primarily relied on tourist signs (and our bad senses of direction) to get around town.  We had both seen pretty incredible pictures of an Orvieto well, so when we saw signs pointing toward the "Pozzo della Cava," (meaning "well of the cave"), we assumed that was it.  So, we paid the entry fee, and began the self-guided tour. The caves themselves were interesting to see, since many of them were part of an underground system built by the Etruscans, and we were surprised that we practically had the site to ourselves.  When we got to the well, though, it looked much different than we were expecting.  I mean, it was nice enough to look at, and was very deep (which was impressive, considering that at least part of it built in ancient times), but it was lacking the symmetry and windows we were expecting. Still, we thought it was possible that we were just misremembering things, and Tom even suggested that the picture we saw was photoshopped.  After all, we were at the Orvieto well.   

Pozzo di San Patrizio

Still, just to be safe, I skimmed through a guidebook at the Pozzo della Cava gift shop on our way out, and learned that Orvieo actually has not one- but two- tourist sites involving wells.  Honestly, what were the chances?!  So, Tom and I made our way to the other side of the hill to visit the other one, Pozzo di San Patrizio.  This well, which was built in the 1500s, turned out to look exactly how we had imagined it.  It housed two internal spiral staircases (one for going up, one for going down), and was full of windows (and tourists).  The water only exists at the very bottom of the 175 foot well, and so residents used to use donkeys to transport the water up to ground level. Nowadays, though, it's a lot of fun to walk down to the bottom (it's slightly less fun to walk back up!) and watch how the well changes color (from bright white to dark brown) as you descend deeper and deeper into the Earth.

Even though we visited the first well by mistake, I'm still very glad we got to see them both.  It was interesting to compare them, and I'm sure the calamity will help us remember our trip to this charming little town many years into the future.  As we start to check more and more off our list, I'm already feeling a sense of nostalgia for what I'm sure I'll someday look back on as the most exciting year of my life.  Still, it makes me appreciate each experience I have all the more, and, fortunately, I at least now have a good excuse to visit Italy again (Pisa, at least) next spring.

Alla Prossima,
Erin

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Mon. April 15:  I'm sorry to rub it in to my poor Minnesotan friends and family members (who still have snow on the ground), but the weather here has been absolutely perfect.  About 70 and sunny every day.