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Published: October 14th 2013
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Pool - Villa Adriance
the hedge growing on all four sides is rosemary...boy did I want to snip some to take home! The group walking is Deb, Lizzie, Craig and Fred. While having a lazy morning, we discussed our travel options for the day...Pisa was too far, other options were the small town of Orvieto or Tivoli. We opted for the shortest drive - Tivoli to see Hadrian's Villa...Villa Adriana. Tivoli is about 18 miles northeast of Rome, about a 45 minute drive from the house in La Guistiniana. Weather was sunny and warm, great for wandering through ancient Roman ruins....but Lizzie wasn't thrilled at all...she wanted to know how long it would be before we had lunch, even though she'd recently had breakfast.
Hadrian's Villa is more of a town than just a villa...it's a large complex of many buildings over 250 acres. This was Hadrian's retreat from busy Rome and his palace on the Palatine Hill, during the 2nd century A.D.. Many of the marble statues that were once here can be seen in the Vatican museum and also in the nearby Villa d'Este...built by the Cardinal of the same name. From what I've read, that villa is also worthy of a visit...maybe next time.
Below is a link from a Sept. 2013 BBC news clip about the series of tunnels recently found underneath the buildings at Villa
Adriana...possibly to be opened to the public...very cool.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24027845 We spent several hours at the Villa....just so cool, but we were losing Lizzie! Once back home, we had dinner...nachos were a great way to clean up leftovers in the fridge. Together we watched the movie "Parental Guidance" with Billy Cystal and Bette Midler. It was relevant to our taking care of Lizzie, from all perspectives...Freddie and I, Lizzie and her parents. Craig and Deb have their work cut out for them, trying to undo the spoiling we did of Lizzie and Miles....we're are so devious and wicked!
We then watched the movie "Pain and Gain" billed as a comedy...well definitely a very dark comedy based on a true story. I'd advise saving your money and watching something other than this movie.
Sunday morning we were up at 7 am to be ready to leave the house at 8:30am for Fiumicino Airport, about 30 minute drive from the house. I got up in time to see the final out of the Sox vs Tigers game...Sox losing 1-0....tough game....a pitching duel....Sox hitters completely shut down. We should be back home to see game 2 tonight.
Fish
Fred says they're carp...I have no clue, but they were in all the pools in the complex and clearly used to being fed by humans. We said our goodbye to Lizzie and Miles at the house, and then to Craig and Deb at the airport. By the time we got through security, etc, we had about 90 minutes to wait to board our plane. We had a smooth flight, got into Philly 1:15 earlier than scheduled because the weather pattern had changed, the usual head winds were non-existent. They fed us well on the plane, dinner plus a snack and then a Panini just before we landed at Philly. Freddie watched two movies, I mostly slept and read. Immigration and customs were quick, the real pain is you have to go through security again, before getting to your connecting flight. Then there's the shuttle bus to take you to the airport terminal for domestic flights....what a royal pain!! Our connecting flight was delayed 40 minutes, so we found a sports bar to have a few beers and watch football. We finally get loaded up into the little plane, get out onto the tarmac and then sit and wait...evening rush hour...we're number 25 for take off...another 40 minute delay...nap time!!!!
On the way home from Bradley we listened to the Sox game on the car
radio but shut it off when the Tigers starting scoring. The Sox did eventually win....YAY...so its game 3 in Detroit on Tuesday.
All in all, we had a wonderful time in Rome and thank Craig and Deb for the opportunity, and Lizzie and Miles for being so good and really easy to take care of. Til next time...
Ciao, ciao, ciao!!!!!
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Debbie
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Thanks for staying with Lizzie and Miles. Miles has been so "out of sorts" today. He must be missing licking the gelato bowls every night. We hope you will come back soon. Although you saw a lot...there is still a lot more to see, see, see!