Moving on

 I was sad to say goodbye to Pietrasanta - perfect place to stay for a while, but it was time to start inching closer to Puglia. Tracey, International Woman of Travel whose place I stayed in had suggested a trip down to Frascati, given I had a couple of days spare before flying to Bari. So Frascati it is. I arrived yesterday, and am staying in the hotel opposite the train station, which is great because this is a hill town and I didn't have to drag my suitcase far, although even so, there were alotalot of stairs!

I'm told that Frascati is where the Romans (as in people from Rome, not the ancient ones) used to come to Frascati for a fresh air break. It is 30 minutes by train from Roma Termini station. As I always do, I dumped my stuff and headed straight out to get my bearings. The bearings are up and more up. Lots of cars and one way streets, all cobble paved which gives that lovely crunchy sound as cars drive by.

I've been reading Barbara Kingsolver's latest book Demon Copperhead, where the protagonist and his pill popping mates cruise the main street in the evenings in their cars - and that was exactly what was going on last night. Not big American cars but little fiats and smart cars, but still with the radio blasting and windows down with theYouth Market cruising to see and be seen. Fascinating.

Outside my terasa, and up the hill, standing on its own is the most amazing building, huge and impressive. Trawling through the 'what do you do in Frascati' online, I found it - Villa Aldobrandini - one of the few still privately owned villas, used for functions. Venue for my next wedding then - seats up to 300 inside and up to 2000 outside.  It is not open to the public but it brags a nymphaeum which I had to look up:

a Roman building or room containing a fountain, adorned with plants and sculpture, and serving as a place of rest.

Anyway. This morning I wondered what on earth I would fill my day with so I decided to fill it with walking up hill to see what I could find. I could see from the portion of a map that was available from the hotel reception that there were a few churches I didn't find yesterday, so exploring UP seemed a good option - and suddenly I had arrived at the front gate of Villa Aldobrandini! I took only a few steps through the gate when I was stopped and reminded that it is private property (*smile* 'scusi')

The road up was two cars wide, with most of it already taken with parking, and there was no respite from up - then it became beautifully treed (verdant even) with absolute silence. Absolutely no one around, no cars passing.  no cicadas, just silence. 

    

A sign told me there was a church (!) so I continued up - then a staircase, leading to a little footpath icon/ altar thingy (it said medugorje - seriously? No Way (we've discussed this when I blogged when I was living in Croatia),  a flight of steps, unkept and weedy, and then arrived on a pebbled area and a Franciscan convent and little museum (closed). Not a soul around. It was kind of eerie, but the view back towards Rome was incredible. (I wonder if the pebbled drives is so that no one can sneak up, it's pretty noisy when you try to walk quietly).

(something weird about stepping on these graves in the floor of churches...)

Another sign pointed to Villa Tuscolana, a grand hotel, I'm going to suggest grander than my train station hotel. I wandered around the grounds at the front as though I was indeed a guest. No one around at all.

(this photo from the internet, wasn't cheeky enough to go inside)

(the symbiotic life of the mighty olive tree and the tenacious fig)

So, where to next except down, and down I tumbled - actually needed to take care, leather soled shoes on marble,  recipe for disaster, almost slipped. And my thoughts turned to the way real estate in NZ calls my style of house a 'villa'. I must drop that into conversation here - 'I live in a villa in NZ' -  I need a sign for the front of my place 'Villa Stafford-Bush' and will start designing the nymphaeum immediately I get home.