We started the day at Hadrian’s Villa, a
gross misnomer as it is more like a private city it is so vast. There are many
structures, all ruins, but most have had a degree of reconstruction that we are
grateful for. The scale of it and the size of the structures is impressive
especially when you take into account the capabilities of the time.
In the afternoon we visited the Villa
d’Este. It’s a large sloping complex with a palace at the top, the residence of
a cardinal at the time. The palace featured hunting decoration and was of no
great interest. The gardens however are something else again, worth of their
World Heritage listing. I’ll let the photos tell the story.
Throughout the day we had been in contact
with my niece and her friend, and we finally caught up with them at the B&B
late in the afternoon. We hadn’t seen her for two years and were keen to catch
up, so we repaired to the bar at which we had previously had great coffee, and
sat outside, intermittently catching glimpses of local life. We watched formally
dressed wedding guests streaming by – the attire somehow incongruous with the
surroundings. That was our third wedding for the day (it was a Saturday).
After descending to the B&B (Tivoli is
a hill town) to freshen up, we ascended again, all the way up to the main plaza
level, where we patronised the same restaurant we had been to the previous
night. The head waiter recognised us immediately and came over to shake my
hand, presumably not least for the benefit of other passing tourists. He did
offer us nice table on the piazza, which
was very pleasant, as we could talk at a volume level suitable for the aging
ears, while at the same time affording us a wonderful view of the locals
passing by for their Saturday night out. The great thing is that he was dressed
for the part – white apron and all. He and his gravelly-voiced female
colleague, the wife of the chef, were most efficient – they use iPhones to
communicate orders to the kitchen.
Our host is a minor breeder of a local
species of truffle dog – Gotto Romano. They are gorgeous animals
that look a good deal like poodles. There were also four absolutely adorable seven
week old puppies. The bitch (in all senses of the word) however, was shy and
not friendly, barking like mad whenever we were around –there was no shutting
her up. Perhaps aptly, her name is Luna.
The barking is all very well in the daytime, but this continued well into the
night when we were not even in sight, and resumed at about 6 am, which did not help
much. Strange, as we heard nothing the previous night. Something for Tripadvisor perhaps.
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