Civitavecchia, Rome

"All good things must come to an end", so the saying goes and how true it is!

We docked in Civitavecchia, the port in Rome, very early in the morning, at about 5am, and from where our stateroom was situated we could feel and hear the bow-thrusters in action from about 3am!  We had received information the previous evening exactly where and at what time we were to be in the Royal Theatre to await our call to disembark.

A happy looking bunch you might say!
Not?

 

It was with heavy hearts that we left the ship that had been our home for the past 12 days; where we had fed like kings and queens, and been waited on like royalty.  We had visited countries and islands of which we had only dreamed, read or seen in movies.  We had watched world class productions of music, singing and dancing and never forgetting the juggler and comedian during which we thought Russell would be in serious need of medical attention!  But....we did not realize what treat lay ahead of us for today!  As our flight was due to leave at 10pm that night, we had booked a tour with NCC Plus Tours and Luca Notarbartolo would be meeting us as we disembarked, luggage and all.

It was just before 10am by the time we had cleared customs and collected our luggage and met Luca.  I had previously, in an email to NCC, made it clear that we would rather not see any more Ruins, Cathedrals and Art Galleries and would prefer to drive out into the country and see a part of the Italian countryside.  Once we had discussed with him where he would take us and settled on a price, we set off on quite a long drive - our first stop being Villa Lante which was about 62km from the port.  

The Villa Lante is named after the Lante della Rovere family, who owned the estate for three centuries until 1933.  At the beginning of the 16th Century, Cardinal Raffaele Riario began creating Villa Lante, when he had a wall built to enclose 22 hectares of land. This came to include a garden and an adjacent hunting reserve, which is now a public park. Subsequent owners, most notably one Cardinal De Gambara, continued the work, commissioning improvements that have resulted in what is praised as one of Italy's finest Renaissance gardens. Gambara is close to the Italian word for 'shrimp', and the Cardinals' rather entertaining shrimp emblem can be seen around the garden and buildings.

The base of the garden is a formal Italian garden, arranged around the impressive Fontana del Quadrato or Fontana dei Quattro Mori, a lavishly embellished fountain surrounded by an expanse of water, complete with stone boats.  This is where the entrance to the gardens is and where we began our visit.

Formal Italian garden

The lowest (and largest) terrace houses a monumental fountain which is called Fontana del Quadrato (Square Fountain) because of its shape; it was probably meant to represent a calm sea, into which the brook/river emptied (there are boats in its four sections).

Pegasus and the Muses

Some of the cardinals of the XVIth century were more acquainted with the Greek Myth than with Theology; as a matter of fact Villa Lante, even in the decoration of the apartments, has very few religious references; this large fountain which is outside the Italian garden represents Pegasus and the Muses (the busts on the wall) and makes reference to the fact that the winged horse struck the earth with his hoof and a spring burst forth; this occurred on Mount Helicon, the residence of the Muses.

The Cardinals' Dining Table

The gardens are defined by a combination of breathtaking architecture and pleasant open spaces. But the massive stone dining table has remained the most impressive and attractive part of the garden for centuries.

A trough of water runs through the center of the table, meant to chill wine for the Cardinal and his guests, and it's a feature that seems inspiring and novel even to this day. Century after century, events were set against these lavish gardens and dinner parties enjoyed conversation surrounded by torchlight and water, right there at the stone table.

The fountains were built with peperino, a volcanic stone which tends to darken when wet; the design of Fontana dei Delfini reflects the fashion of the time for a very rich decoration in an elaborate and symmetrical frame.

Fontana dei Giganti

The brook becomes a large river in the next terrace and the two large statues which are known as the giants are actually personification of rivers; they are rather poor sculptures, but their design was inspired by

those of Michelangelo a few years earlier. 

Nymphaeum at the top of the gardens

As I mentioned at the beginning, the entrance to the gardens of Villa Lante is placed at their lowest level  where we entered, but it is more meaningful to start the visit from the top of the hill. The design of Renaissance gardens is all about the relationship between Nature and Mankind and how the latter is able to control the former; for this reason water makes its first appearance in an apparently natural environment with caves and waterfalls. 

A Loggia (or Portico)

This small "loggia" on the highest terrace provided the cardinal's guests with a resting place where they could engage in conversation or listen to the murmur of water; it was not just a matter of relaxing, but a means to re-enact the way of living of the Classical World.

I couldn't help but try to imagine children running along these walls in the 15th century.  Just my imagination running wild!!

Just look at these wonderful old trees!

What a wonderful experience it was to see these beautiful gardens and to imagine their grandeur so many centuries ago.  In 1656 the villa was bought by Ippolito Lante Della Rovere, Duke of Bomarzo, together with the palace in town; the Lante retained possession of the villa until 1933. 

 

We now return to Luca waiting for us in his luxury Mercedes bus for the next leg of our journey to Lake Bolsena.

We seemingly drove for miles and miles through farmland where there were literally hundreds of nut trees.  Unfortunately Luca was not terribly well informed of what was growing in this part of Italy, but if I manage to find out, I will add.

Everyone has heard of the Italian Lakes but few know of the beautiful Lake Bolsena and the historic region that surrounds it in the heart of Italy, not far from Rome.  It remains one of Italy's best kept secrets.

Located on the borders of Tuscany and Lazio, Lake Bolsena is formed in the crater of an extinct volcano which was formed starting 370,000 years ago.  Roman historic records indicate activity of the Volsini volcano occurred as recently as 104 BC, since then it has been dormant.   The two islands in the southern part of the lake were formed by underwater eruptions following the initial collapse of the caldera. The distance around the lake is 43 kilometers and its surface area is 144 square kilometers.    Its crystal clear waters teem with fish and lap against fine sandy beaches.  The capital of the Lake is Bolsena itself, a beautiful resort town.  Once the Etruscan settlement of Volsini and medieval town of miracles, it is famous for its gardens and annual flower festival.

A small area of Lake Bolsena

While we were at Villa Lante, Luca, quite unbeknown to us, phoned and booked us in for lunch at Ristorante Acquarella, one of the lovely restaurants on the shore of the Lake.  Click on the link and see what a beautiful place it is.  Here we are arriving in the car park.

Arriving at the restaurant

View from the boat deck

So pretty

They host weddings and other functions

Luca explaining about activity in the Lake

Apparently there are small "eruptions" in the Lake that take place every so often and all of a sudden the water rises about 50cm and floods the banks.

A pretty creeper 

We watched this swan fishing in the lake.....

We sat under cover at a beautifully set table reserved for us.  Luca helped us choose what to have for lunch explaining the different pastas and even how they are cooked.  He gave us his recipe for Lasagne!!!!

What was the joke?

We had a wonderful time trying each other's tasty dishes, not forgetting the wine as well!  All too soon it is time to leave this lovely restaurant where we were made to feel so welcome.  We are waved goodbye by the sweet waitress who could not speak a word of English.  Thank goodness for Luca!

So now we leave for Rome's Fiumicino airport where Luca will drop us off - plus our luggage!  It has been another wonderful day of touring in this beautiful countryside and how pleased we were to have chosen not to visit St Peter's Square and the Cistine Chapel etc where we have all been before at one time or another anyway.  It was a quiet trip back to Rome where we bade farewell to Luca, gathered our luggage and prepared for a long wait in the airport before boarding our plane at 10pm.

Goodbye Luca

This has been a truly wonderful trip with memories that the 6 of us have shared together and which I'm sure we will talk about for the next few months and years.  Thank you to Lesley and Dave for suggesting that we all get together to make it happen and for all your hard work that went into the planning and preparation.  Thank you to our dear Mom for your encouragement and help.  Thank you Barb for leading the shopping expeditions and to Russ who so obediently co-operated..... and not forgetting the laughs you gave us!

Thank you to my darl for making it happen for the two of us to build more memories; hopefully there will be more like this to come!!!  Most of all I thank God for answered prayer.........

I hope you have enjoyed taking this trip with us as much as I have enjoyed putting this blog together.  I think I have learned more since we've been back while Googling information so as to get my facts together correctly.

Purdy says, "Please don't go away again".