ROME
It was a quick trip planned for sometime and we drove down to Heathrow to meet our friends Di & Chris for the short flight to Rome. A simple taxi ride in an we were in the heart of Rome staying in an AirBnB in the old Jewish Ghetto area by the Tiber.
The apartment was beneath the Maltese Embassy and was a converted stables - now a very nice two bedroomed apartment in a great location.
The next few days were a cultural adventure with Rome showing us there were many, many more things to see that we ever would have time to see in the few days we had.
TIVOLI
After three nights in Rome we hired a car and headed east for an hour. On route we stopped at the Villa Adriana - Hadrian's villa. We have been there before on our trip back from Oman so didn't take many pictures. The site is huge and has improved a lot since we were last there. Now there are signs and information whereas previously we wondered around a bit lost not knowing what the ruins were
A short drive and we were in Tivoli. Again somewhere we have been before and we stayed in the same B&B we did last time, still good.
We dropped the car and headed up the hill to the very impressive Villa D'Este. The villa itself is quite impressive but it's famous for its gardens and particularly the water features. It has dozens of fountains and waterfalls due to the abundant supply of water from the river flowing from the mountains behind.
SERMONETA
Friday morning and we set off south around a 100km to the village of Sermoneta, or to be precise the Gardens of Ninfa, which are very close. Di's neighbour in London is a Howard, actually Baron Howard of Penrith! The gardens were once owned by the family and through the connection we managed to get invited to the 'Friends of Ninfa' open day. We had a semi-guided tour, a long lunch served on the lawn and ample time to wonder around the wonderful gardens. We had tried to visit them in 2014 but they are mostly closed to the public, so we were lucky to be able to see them.
That night we stayed in the village of Sermoneta is a very nice recently renovated village house. The village is a classic fortified Italian town complete with castle. That night we were too full to contemplate dinner but then next day after breakfast we did manage a trip round the castle; very impressive too.
We then drove back north towards the airport with the intention of visiting Ostia, the old port of Rome, down the River Tiber and close to the sea. By the time we had been to buy cheese and Parma Ham we realised there would be not enough time so settled for lunch instead. Di found a nice place tucked down a back alley in the small modern town of Ostia and had a wonderful lunch. The Italian owner would not let us look at a menu, brought us anti-pasta, fish and bottle of house wine and it was all magnificent; and not expensive!
We were home by 9pm that night having felt we had been away for ages. A very nice trip which we could easily be persuaded to do again!
2025-02-16