calling from some city...

Today was our third day in Rome, and we actually awoke when the alarm went off at 9:30 am. We got ready and had our cappachinos and pastries for breakfast. We decided to go to Tivoli today, which is a city right outside of Rome. Some of the people on my trip had went to Tivoli and enjoyed it, and Sara’s guidebook recommended itas well so it seemed like a good idea to escape the crowds for the day. We had a little difficulty there because we could not find the bus to take us to Tivoli at the bus station. One person told us there was a bus, so we bought a ticket, but the bus driver said we had to go to another station to get the bus. So it was rather confusing but we figured out we could take a commuter rail train to get there so we did so, and arrived in Tivoli an hour later.

After grabbing a panini at a sandwich shop (where the owner nicknamed me Miss America, haha) we went to Villa D’Este. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and very well known for its Italian Renaissance design, and dates from the 1550’s. We first went through the villa which was now a museum and then explored the gardens. It was absolutely beautiful, with perfectly manicured lawns and a huge fountain. Luckily a lot of the park was shaded (obviously, there were a lot of trees) but there was a lot of walking around the grounds.

After exploring the villa we headed to another villa across town called Villa Gregoriana. It was originally commissioned in the early 1820’s but fell into ruin in the 20th century. In 2005, the villa was reopened and it’s basically a park with extensive hiking trails that lead down to the Great Waterfall. The park itself is really nice, obviously lush green trees everywhere. I’ve never really seen a waterfall so this was a really cool experience for me. We hiked down to see it and cooled off a bit since we were so close to the waterfall. We then had the very tiring task of hiking all the way back up to the exit. We had to stop along the way and rest on benches and refill our water bottle (luckily Tivoli, like Rome, has extensive public drinking fountains, so we easily filled up water throughout the day). It was 102 degrees out in Tivoli today, with it “feeling like” 108. The sun was just relentlessly beating down on us all day and we were all sweaty and gross by the end of the day. We did, however, stay hydrated. SO while it was a hot day, I’m glad we went to Tivoli because it did provide shade and a break from the crowds. I love Rome, but this was a cool day trip and I enjoyed the parks.

 It took us a little while to find the bus station but we managed and started the trip back to Rome. We arrived back at the hotel at 6:30 and took much needed showers. Scott found a good restaurant in my guide book near the Pantheon and we walked over. It was really good food, I splurged a bit (I mean, I am in Rome…) and got pork with roasted potatoes. It was really good and then we absolutely had to go to Giolitti’s, which is the most famous/best gelato in Rome. I’ve been looking forward to this since I got back here so we all got gelato and it was fantastic. I might have to go back tomorrow.

Tomorrow is our last day in Rome. The time here has absolutely flown by. We have a very busy day planned tomorrow, so I’m off to bed to get some sleep!