Tivoli

HELLO.
Prepare yourself for a LOT of pictures. Sorry there are so many. I hope you enjoy though.

Went to a place called Tivoli this weekend.
Tivoli is a little-talked-about town about 1 hour train ride from Roma.
"The city acquired Roman citizenship in 90 BC and became a resort area famed for its beauty and copious good water, and was enriched by many Roman villas."
It's a great historical fact.
I hadn't heard about it until my friend Vasily told me that he lived there once.
My roommate Mel then told me that she was going to day trip there.
I thought I'd join in.
It was one of my favorites because of the garden and hike that we saw. Most beauty combined in one city out of all the places I've seen so far.

So if you would like to, take a walk in a gorgeous garden and a hike in a medieval park with me... through my pictures of course!


Train stopped here. For a no good reason. Those darn unreliable Italian trains. But it was pretty so I took pictures.
Mel and I were really worried about the weather... okay, well, it was mostly just me who was worried... It was raining on and off on the train ride over.
Take 30 minutes of swerving Italian countryside, higher into the hills out of the valley and all of a sudden you are hit BAM with this city.

"Villa d’Este, masterpiece of the Italian Garden. With its impressive concentration of fountains, nymphs, grottoes, plays of water, and music, it constitutes a much-copied model for European gardens in the mannerist and baroque styles."




97% of our time was spent in the garden and not in the villa. It was better that way.





It was headless



Views from the top of the Villa onto the gardens.

The flowers are gorgeous!

AMAZING


One of many beautiful fountains.






From the top of a fountain.

Ti amo.


View from the bottom of the gardens up towards the villa.



This is where I'm going to be proposed to.


These hedges remind me of Harry Potter.

View from an overlook at the garden.





I love this shot, the oranges make it.







Wildflowers!
Group of old Italian women wearing matching scarves.
Note the faces.
Note his nose.


Me and my buddy. I thought the effect on this picture would greatly enhance the feeling that me and this random old man truly share a bond.



This place was so big.
















Behind the scenes, this is were cultivation takes place.




Then we left, in search of waterfalls.
A piazza in Tivoli
On to Villa Gregoriana "an impressive park set in a gorge with a 100m waterfall. The site has recently reopened to the public after restoration by the FAI (Italy's equivalent of the English National Trust, with free entry to NT members)."

Just because i'm sure you were wondering.
















I am fascinated by this tree root.
Mel is copying Alexander the Great or something like that...



We are the missing Roman statues.

Apparently we chose to go to the "valley of hell."





It really is a wishing well.

Thinking about pushing it over. I'm so destructive.







This reminds me of Rivendale, from Lord of the Rings. That's all I could really think of when I was there. And I wish I brought the books to read with me.





Pictures cannot do justice how extraordinarily BEAUTIFUL this truly was. You just have to come here sometime. It's my favorite place so far... well... that and the garden was.


I'm walking funny because I don't want to slip in the mud.











Rivendale. It really is.







We are dining.
Aww, I found a heart-shaped leaf!
But then I tore it in two because love is hard.



Goodbye Tivoli!



Stopped for a juice box pick-me-up.



Tivoli from the train and waterfall on the left.

The day ended with no rain, just pretty clouds!