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| Italy 2003 Day 2 Tivoli | ||||
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| It's another beautiful day in Tivoli. Today we head up to Hadrian's Villa, which, in retrospect, is a "villa" in the same way as Versailles is "a summer cabin without running water and an outhouse". It's good to be the Emperor. A few miles outside of Tivoli, behind an industrial park off a side road (yes we got lost..we missed the turn twice, but we did find a shortcut and a lunch place!) is a huge complex of ruins. Hadrian had this small city built over about a decade, it had small lakes, several baths, an amphitheater, a small colloseum for the gladiators, an outdoor dining room with a waterfall on one side to cool the room, a building with an island and moat...inside!, underground tunnels big enough for horse drawn carts, a library, and a private outdoor walking 'room', enclosed by 600 foot long, 30 foot high walls... Unbelievable. It was abandandoned after the 3rd century and then most of the marble was stolen. So, like Ostia Antica and the other ruins I've been to, it takes some imagination to figure out what's what (the Past and Present picture books help too!), but's it's still pretty damn impressive. We hiked around the ruins for a few hours (several miles of hiking...and it was hot), but you could easily spend the whole day. We however had to have lunch. As we were driving around, looking for a shortcut when we missed the turn, dad spotted a porchetta stand. So off we were to have a sandwich. Porchetta, which I had never had before, is a whole pig, smothered with spices, and then roasted. Slice it thick and serve on a good crusty roll and you've got lunch. This place was basically a roadside stand with an outdoor area with table and chairs, right off the road in an industrial/commecial area. Lots of truck drivers and auto mechanics. But this deli case filled with meats and cheeses.....and fresh fava beans! After sitting in the sun enjoying our sandwiches, we were getting ready to leave. I went back to get a bottle of water and the guy in front of me was ordering fava beans with pecorino. Two years ago, when I visited Romina's parents' house, we had fresh fava and pecorino and it was a revelation for me. So when this guy ordered them, I wanted some too....apparently fresh fava beans are a sign of spring. The cheese was a bit salty, but the beans were great...big, sweet, pale green, and crunchy. After this extravaganza, we went back to town, got some film developed, had a gelato (melone e fragole) and then back to the hotel to take a break. Post-siesta, it was time for the more villas. The Villa Gregoriana is right next to the hotel and the grounds contain the waterfall that is outside my window. It's not really a Villa either, more of a garden area, but we never got in...'in restauro'. So we headed to the other side of the waterfall to find the two temples that overlook the falls and are outside my other window. When I first came to italy, to work on the cooking show, we went from our first location in Lucca to Pisa to see the tower. We could see it as we got to the city, but once inside, we lost it completely...and spent a looong time trying to find it. Let's just say, this was a less embarrassing version of that experience. We could see the temples, we walked right by a gate that led to the temples, we saw signs for the temples. But apparently you can't get there from here. Well let's just say that the gate with the chain that leads to the temples that we walked past and looked locked. Not so locked. So we got to the temples. One, dedicated to Vesta, is round with columns and is in pretty good condition, the other, square and dedicated to Sybil, is less interesting. They are both small and seem a little out of place, but you can walk around and on them and it's pretty amazing that they are still standing. Off to town and the passagiata. We stopped into an art show in an old church, had a piece of white pizza, looked in vain for the strawberry man, who yesterday had sold us a ridiculous amount of delicious strawberrys for 3 euro, and then circled around to the part of the river above the falls. The town is working on improving the waterfront...they've built a boardwalk and a walking bridge across the river, but it's kind of grubby and the brand new bridge is covered with graffitti. On the other side of the river is the local bocce association. We watched a little through an open door, which is apparently bad form, because as soon as we left, they slammed the doors shut to keep out any other gawkers. Dinner was scheduled to be at a restaurant across town that had been closed last night. We head over and can't find it. After circling several times, we give up and head to the hotel to find the guidebook and see how we missed it. Turns out they're mysteriously still closed....we ended up back at the same place as last night. Another nice meal. Tortellni in brodo to start and spaghetti carbonera for me, bucatini amatriciana and saltimbuco for mom, spaghetti con vongole, salsiccia, and carciofe alla Romana for dad. The pastas are all good, as last night, fresh made and cooked just right. The meats are tasty, but not as interesting and I guess I don't like the Roman style of cooking artichokes: steamed in minty water...More panna cotta for dessert (but strangely not for dad...hmmm) and it's off to solve our computer problems before bed. tomorrow..mo' betta villas. JZ |
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