Roma, Tivoli, Florence...

Because our days have been so packed full of tours and evening life I am going to combine these three days for the sake of catching up.

Tuesday:

The hot spots that we toured while finishing up Rome were: The Colossuem, The Roman Forum, St. Peter's Basilica, The Vatican, and The Trevi Fountain, basically all of the piazza in the downtown area. Today was our free day. We broke off into groups and explored the city’s back alleys, monuments, and restaurants.

Wednesday:

Today we drove to Tivoli to Villa Adriana and finished up our day with an afternoon visit of Villa D’Este. Villa Adriana was owned by Emperor Hadrian in the first century. He used this property to entertain officials and dignitaries. Villa D’ Este wowed our group with its impressive water system. Dozens of fountains lined multiple areas of the property. One of the main walkways has the well-known 100 fountains. After visiting the villas and their gardens we traveled to our hotel ‘Voi E Noi’ and were treated to a three course meal of mushroom pasta, pork and vegetables, and fruit dessert.

Thursday:

Today we traveled to Villa Lante in Bugnaie and Parco Dei Mostri in Bomarzo. Villa Lante, originally created for Cardianl Raffaele Roarop in the 16^th Century, consists of 22 ha. with cascades, fountains, flowering shrubs, long chambers of water, grottos, and two small casinis. Hydraulic and sound elements add variety to the creative works of Sienese architect, Tommaso Chinucci.  The Park of Monsters was created for the Prince Pier Francesco Orsini when he returned home from war to find his wife had died. The garden is believed to be a garden which reflects grief through odd and grotesque statues. It was quite the interesting garden and entertaining to see and sing in. We had to do a lot of driving today in order to reach Firenze (Florence). When we arrived we took a quick tour of the downtown to orient ourselves and had dinner throughout the city. Favorite tonight were Gnocci, Sausage Pizza, Pasta, and Calzones.

Well that has caught us up for now. See you tomorrow after our wine tasting tour! I apologize for the layout of the pictures. The internet isn't responding properly where we are staying. They are scattered.