Rome Trip (Day 4)
Day 4: Saturday, May 20
Velletri + Nemi (sort of) + Civita d'Antino
We had breakfast at our hotel again and then took the Tram to the Metro to Roma Termini train station to catch the 9:28am regional train to Velletri, where friends J & S from grad school live with their three kids (C, G, M). I stayed with J & S for almost two weeks back in 2001 when they were initially transitioning to Velletri and before any of the kids, and the last time we saw any of them was in Madison in 2003, just after G was born. It was great to meet the kids and visit with J & S over lunch, which was J's homemade gnocchi. Yum!
After lunch, J, Mr. E, and I left for Civita d'Antino, dropping G off to meet up with her friends along the way. J's mother grew up in Civita, which is where he did field research for his dissertation, and he still has quite a bit of family living there as well. He and S bought a house in Civita a couple of years ago. Civita is in the mountains of the Abruzzo region, so the weather was quite different from that in Velletri or Rome -- much cooler, cloudy, and somewhat rainy. Good thing we had brought some warm clothes, windbreakers, and an umbrella!
The original plan was to attend a wine-tasting event in Nemi, a small town next to a lake not far from Velletri. However, when we tried to park and catch the shuttle to the tasting, we ended up waiting for 45 minutes and finally learned that the shuttle was no longer running because the parking area had been washed out by the strong downpour that had fallen during the unexpected thunderstorm a few hours earlier (when we were getting ready for lunch in Velletri). So we changed plans and stopped at a nearby shop to pick up some wine and then made our way to Civita.
The rain picked up again when we arrived, and we got to see some amazing double rainbows thanks to the simultaneous sun shining through breaks in the clouds above the mountains.
Mr. E and J went out for a stroll around the town while I hunkered down at the house to stay warm and dry. The small town (just over 100 population) is very picturesque, and Mr. E captured some great images of both the built and natural environments. Once they got back to the house, we enjoyed some wine (Gewurztraminer and Brunello) and snacks (local cookies -- yum!), and Mr. E and J stayed up chatting after I turned in.
Velletri + Nemi (sort of) + Civita d'Antino
We had breakfast at our hotel again and then took the Tram to the Metro to Roma Termini train station to catch the 9:28am regional train to Velletri, where friends J & S from grad school live with their three kids (C, G, M). I stayed with J & S for almost two weeks back in 2001 when they were initially transitioning to Velletri and before any of the kids, and the last time we saw any of them was in Madison in 2003, just after G was born. It was great to meet the kids and visit with J & S over lunch, which was J's homemade gnocchi. Yum!
After lunch, J, Mr. E, and I left for Civita d'Antino, dropping G off to meet up with her friends along the way. J's mother grew up in Civita, which is where he did field research for his dissertation, and he still has quite a bit of family living there as well. He and S bought a house in Civita a couple of years ago. Civita is in the mountains of the Abruzzo region, so the weather was quite different from that in Velletri or Rome -- much cooler, cloudy, and somewhat rainy. Good thing we had brought some warm clothes, windbreakers, and an umbrella!
The original plan was to attend a wine-tasting event in Nemi, a small town next to a lake not far from Velletri. However, when we tried to park and catch the shuttle to the tasting, we ended up waiting for 45 minutes and finally learned that the shuttle was no longer running because the parking area had been washed out by the strong downpour that had fallen during the unexpected thunderstorm a few hours earlier (when we were getting ready for lunch in Velletri). So we changed plans and stopped at a nearby shop to pick up some wine and then made our way to Civita.
The rain picked up again when we arrived, and we got to see some amazing double rainbows thanks to the simultaneous sun shining through breaks in the clouds above the mountains.
posted by jms | 3:51 PM
1 Comments:
Cold, rainy countryside with great views and wine...this sounds a bit like heaven to me. :-)
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