Villa d'Este

In the heat of a Roman summer, a visit to Villa d'Este is a cooling treat. (It's in the town of Tivoli, not too far away.)



This 16th century estate was the home of Cardinal Ippolito d'Este. Nice place for someone who took a vow of poverty!



The gardens of the estate are filled and surrounded by water -- pools and fountains everywhere. Gorgeous views, too.



The model of the city of Rome, called Rometta, is a fountain, too.



The walkway lined with animal-faced spouts is called Viale delle Cento Fontane (avenue of the 100 fountains).



At the end is an open mouth swallowing all that water.



This view looks down on the water-organ, an organ that supposedly makes music from the force of water pumping air through pipes.



We didn't get a photo of the strolling vocal group singing madrigals. They were good!

Hadrian's Villa

The emperor Hadrian had a summer estate in Tivoli, not far from Rome. Today it is an open-air museum.

This area is known as the Maritime Theater. It features a small island in a turtle-filled pond. The island is thought to have been Hadrian's painting and architecture studio.



Hadrian had many replicas of classic ancient structures built. The Canopus is a replica of a sanctuary to the god Serapis near Alexandria, Egypt.



There are many buildings visitors can walk through. Some contain floor mosaics. Here is some detail from one of them.



There are other decorative touches still visible.



Looking out from a rooftop, the view is pastoral.

Piazza del Popolo and Monte Mario

There is a big square not too far from where we live called Piazza del Popolo. One doesn't know where to look first. At the sphinxes?



At the angry fish?



Or perhaps at the obelisk?



Across the Tevere river is a park called Monte Mario, from which one sees views like this



and this



(That's the dome of St. Peter's.)

A walk in June

Back in June, we went for a stroll and snapped some photos. Here are a few.

In the first picture, you can see the sculpture atop the Vittorio Emanuele II monument in between two church towers. (Vittorio Emanuele II was the king of Italy. We heard that he destroyed a medieval neighborhood to create this monument to himself.)



You may have seen other photos similar to the one below, because it's a famous place in Rome. It's the Trinità dei Monti church at the very top of the Spanish Steps. (We stood on some of the mid-level steps to take the picture. There are a few more flights of steps below the spot where we're standing.)



Then we turned around, descended a bit, and took a photo of Piazza Spagna at the bottom of the steps. This is a wildly popular gathering spot, frequently crowded with tourists.



Here's another view you might've seen before: the Fontana del Tritone in Piazza Barberini. I see this fountain just about every day. Bernini was commissioned to sculpt it in 1642. I read that the fish-looking creatures at the base are supposedly dolphins. I've never seen dolphins that look like that, but I give Bernini credit for a fine fountain.

Orvieto

Orvieto is a beautiful town perched atop a hill in Umbria. We visited there on the day of the Cronoscalata della Castellana (see previous blog post).

The central piazza has a design in the cobblestones.

If you climb up many stairs to the top of the Moor's Tower, you see a pretty view of the town...

... as well as the bell tower.

It's a long walk down the stairs.

The duomo, or cathedral, is quite colorful compared to the others we've seen around Rome these past couple of months.

Cronoscalata della Castellana

Italy's got Dan's kinda people. We can tell because they have such events as the Cronoscalata della Castellana, an uphill race of vintage cars in Umbria.

The cars warmed up by zooming up a stretch of road one after the other. There were various makes and models from different countries, but Fiat was well represented.

When the drivers took a break, we could get an up-close look at their rides.

The actual race was against the clock, each car being timed separately rather than driving side by side.

They were loud and fast!

Palestrina

The town of Palestrina (called Praeneste in ancient times) is known for its Archaeological Museum...

... which is housed in a palazzo built atop the ancient Etruscan Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia:

The sanctuary was covered up for centuries, but exposed again due to bombs during World War II. The museum contains many items found at the site, including an incredibly detailed mosaic depicting the flooding of the Nile River. Numerous African animals, such as giraffes and hippos, are depicted. Apparently some people think one of the animals resembles a dinosaur, and they actually cite the mosaic as proof that man and dinosaurs coexisted. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos of it, so we'll have to share pictures of the town with you instead.

Palestrina is a hill town, hence plenty of steps! The residents probably have strong quadriceps.