Travelling Simply

Travel recommendations, ideas and observations from two simple travellers

Tag: Italy (Page 2 of 3)

See the hidden treasures just outside of Rome

25/10/2018 / / 3 Comments

It was another bright, sunny day as we drove up to Hadrian’s Villa (Villa Adriana) just outside of Tivoli. We had spent a couple of weeks walking the tracks between the villages in the Cinque Terre, wandering the streets of Florence and Sienna, and roaming the Tuscan countryside. The drive, surrounded by endless fields of sunflowers through Umbria and into Lazio was beautiful, and Tivoli was our final stop before reaching Rome.

With parking restricted at the entrance, we parked in a neighbouring suburban street, found a little café for lunch in preparation for an afternoon wandering through the ruins of the UNESCO World Heritage site.

We were delighted to find there were no queues at the entrance. And, upon entering, only a few people inside the complex.

Hadrian’s Villa is a large complex of buildings, gardens, pools and fountains, dating back to 118AD. Emperor Hadrian built this rural retreat as his summer getaway from Rome and today, much of the site remains unexcavated. The unearthed ruins though, leave it to the imagination about how spectacular buildings and grounds of this original Villa were!

Entranced by the beauty of the Villa, we hadn’t noticed the dark clouds gather. Suddenly there’s a feeling of eeriness around us. Thunder starts to rumble and flashes of lightning rapidly crack across the sky. With more to see, we don’t let this deter us and carry on admiring willing the skies to clear – we still have much more to see.

The Gods take pity and it is not until we reach the Museum that it starts to pour with rain. The model recreation indoors gives us an insight into Emperor Hadrian’s appreciation of architectural styles and how beautiful the Villa originally was.

It was time to leave and with no sign of the heavy rain subsiding, the decision was made. He gallantly sprinted to find our car while I took cover.

And, so it was that we continued our short drive into Tivoli to find our little B&B in the small piazza just outside the amazing Villa D’Este. We will have a couple of hours to explore the famous gardens before dark.

With light rain still falling by the time we unpack and settle, we decide that a tour of the Villa apartments would be best before exploring the gardens. We are not disappointed, the apartments reveal stunning frescoes and stairways with glimpses over the gardens and beyond through the windows. This villa was the home of the very wealthy Cardinal Ippolito d’Este.

The grand finale is the amazing gardens, fountains and waterfalls – indescribable. The opulence of times past is difficult to understand these days, however, we are grateful that the Villa has been well preserved for us to enjoy and imagine times past.

Hadrian’s Villa is located outside of Tivoli and while we travelled by car, we understand there is a bus service from Tivoli which delivers you very close to the entrance (pop into the Tourist Office om Piazza Garibaldi for details).

Just over 20km from Rome, Tivoli can be explored on a day trip. However, we recommend that you stay at least one night in this small town to be able to explore the main attractions at a leisurely pace. Or, stay longer to use the town as a base as you explore the region of Lazio. Either way, do not miss the opportunity to go off the tourist track and pay a visit.

P.S. If you decide to stay in Tivoli, we can recommend staying at the lovely B&B Villa D’Este situated right next to the Villa D’Este. Our host, Fabio was very polite and accommodating providing us with a delicious homemade breakfast on the rooftop terrace. Make sure you request a room overlooking the piazza. They also provide complimentary parking in a car park close by. There are plenty of unique restaurants and cafes close by.

Why you will love travelling in Europe in the summer if you enjoy music and culture!

25/09/2018 / / 1 Comment

Truly getting to know a new country includes meeting new people, sampling new food, visiting the sights and treasures unique and dear to that country and immersing ourselves in their art and culture.

  • Big Band in Plaza Mayor, Madrid
    An evening at a Big Band performance in Madrid’s main square

In a tour group, the itinerary is sure to include pre-organised events to showcase the country’s uniqueness – a traditional performance over a meal of local dishes, a private concert in a castle for your group, or a guided visit to the theatre or art gallery. We’ve attended and enjoyed many during our travels.

We prefer to travel independently these days,  by-pass the ticket vendors selling tickets to the opera or a music show, and instead join the locals in their town’s piazzas, plazas and placas or sit in on a classical concert in a historic building where we can just wander in to take a seat.

 A European Town square is a centre for gathering – a place to meet, eat, drink and enjoy entertainment. In winter, some will transform into mesmerising night markets but it is in summer where these town squares are the most vibrant.

  • Medieval parade in Arezzo
    Medieval parade in Arezzo, Italy
  • Human towers
    Sunday afternoon entertainment in Barcelona

Preferring to travel to Europe during their summer, we have had the opportunity to enjoy this vibrancy. In almost every major town or city, stages will appear and buskers will hold their position around town squares.

Performances are varied, but all are professional and first class in quality. Anyone can attend, entrance is free, there are no queues, and you don’t have to dress up! Often, a number of these performances are on at the same time and you can wander between them.

We’ve stumbled unexpectedly across many a performance:

  1. On an evening stroll in Madrid, we came across a Big Band concert in Plaza Mayor and were entertained for almost two hours.
  2. On an afternoon walk down La Ramblas in Barcelona, we veered into a square and into the middle of a human tower competition.
  3. Instead of joining the others in the tourist hub of Monastiraki in Athens, we joined locals at an outdoor music concert featuring traditional Greek music and performances.
  4. As tourists queued to enter the opera in Vienna, we walked across the road to join the large crowd at the annual film festival in front of the Town Hall.
  5. Enjoyed a professional fashion show in the enchanting hilltop town of Paola on our drive back to Rome from Sicily.
  6. On the Old City walls of Treviso, we enjoyed two nights of incredible entertainment, Nina Zilli who represented Italy in the 2012 Eurovision performed one night and the Beuna Vista Social Club performed on the next evening. The atmosphere was electric!
  7. Wandering along 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, we stopped to listen to three brothers showcasing their music right at the end of the street. They are outstanding musicians who tour the US performing at schools and small venues and enjoy busking so much that their mother drives them the one hour to come down to Santa Monica every Saturday and then waits to take them home again.
  8. Staying a few days in the Tuscan town of Arezzo, we enjoyed the annual jousting competition held every night complete with a medieval parade through the streets of the town.
  9. In Seville, we wandered into an outdoor courtyard in a small Palais to join a small audience and listened to a spectacular classical piano concert.
  10. Recently, in Prague all the seats were taken by the time we arrived in Old Town Square, so we joined locals and other travellers like ourselves to sit on the kerbside to enjoy an evening of jazz.

A recommendation, next time you are travelling in Europe during the summer, take a peek in the town square or if like us, you decide on using apartment accommodation, ask your host.

  • Summer Festival in Treviso
    Beuna Vista Social Club playing at the Summer Festival in Treviso, Italy

    On the way to the cemetery…

    26/08/2018 / / 1 Comment

    One of the things we love about travelling simply is meeting the people of the countries we visit. Travelling independently provides numerous opportunities to converse with locals, hear about their lives, their story, learn something new about their country and practice speaking their language.

    An added benefit is arranging your own travel itinerary. We like to detour from mainstream tourist attractions to find our own small attractions and make the visit more memorable.

    • tiber river

    We had taken a morning walk along the Tiber River in Rome, through the Rose Garden to take a peep through the keyhole on the Aventine Hill and decided to continue on to the Protestant Cemetery which is only a few kilometres from the Colosseum. We had found our way there on a previous visit and were keen to go back to the graveyard.

    Wandering down the Hill, dazzled by the magnificent view through the keyhole (it was a clear, sunny morning and the view was magnificent), we became disorientated and wondered if we were going the right way. We are old hands in Rome and had come out without our map!

    It is early and the streets are deserted. We stand at the fork of the road pondering on whether we need to turn left or right when we spot a man leisurely strolling down the hill puffing on his pipe, a beautiful golden retriever in tow.

    We approach. He looks at us amusingly as we try our hand at asking him in Italian if we are going the right way. He stuns us with his reply. Not only is it in perfect English, but it is his accent which raises our curiosity!

    None of us are in a hurry. We stand on the street corner as he takes pleasure in telling the story of his life. It is not extraordinary, an Italian, now retired who studied, lived and work in our home town, has children who live in our country which he visits every year but loves the life in Italy. It turns out that we have more in common than we thought.

    Half an hour later he walks down the hill with us, tells us we are heading in the right direction as we part ways. The cemetery is less than five minutes away.

    We spend an hour meandering through the cemetery stopping at the gravestones to read and reflect on the lives of the non-Catholic who lived and died here. The cemetery was established in the early 1700’s so there is a lot of history here on the life of the expatriate community in Italy. We only walk through a small section to ensure we come back again on a future visit.

    Our visit is not complete without visiting a special part of the cemetery set a little aside in a tranquil garden, the final resting places of the British poets Keats and Shelley.

    A lovely morning spent away from the chaos of Rome making new memories with a stranger.

    • keats tombstone
      Tombstone of John Keats

    Footnote: You’ll find the Protestant Cemetery next to the Pyramid of Caius Cestius. The entrance is tucked away on Via Caio Cestio. Entrance is free, however, donations for the upkeep of the cemetery are accepted through a donation box at the entrance.

    The day our car disappeared!

    16/05/2018 / / 0 Comments

    We wake to a sunny morning in Sienna and the decision is made, this is a perfect day to take a leisurely drive through Chianti and the Tuscan countryside.

    It is still early, so we have plenty of time for our morning walk and a quiet breakfast before we hit the road. Our walking route takes us to the Fort which sits a little above the city. A walk along the ramparts gives another dimension to views over the city and we meander through the gardens along with other early morning exercisers.

    • sienna

    We wander back down a pathway ending up in the main public car park which has now turned into the local market. There are stalls selling all manner of goods from, fresh vegetables and foods to clothing and household goods. We enjoy watching the locals make their purchases and tempted by the large rosy peaches and apricots, pick up some summer fruit for ourselves. The market is large and takes up the majority of the car park.

    We stroll toward the city end of the car park to get back to our apartment. The walk will take us past our car. We parked our car here for the past few days. It has been convenient, the car park is free and close to our apartment.

    That sinking feeling, when you reach the spot where you think you parked your car and it’s not there! What a way to end a pleasant morning walk.

    We look at each other. Two heads are better than one. Yes, this was the spot, we are certain. There is a car parked next to where we thought we had parked our car and more cars are parked further along! We have parked in many public car parks during our travels through Europe and often for days at a time because once we arrive at our destination we usually take out our walking shoes to have a good look around.

    Puzzled, we take a closer look at the signpost. We had moved our car to what we thought was a safer spot a day or two earlier and had neglected to observe that it was just inside the clear away for the markets which are held every Wednesday. Had we parked one spot over, all would have been fine!

    We are disappointed. It looks like our day in Chianti is not going to happen. But more importantly, where is our car? We have a lot more of this country to see.

    Ennio, our host is our saviour. One phone call to him and he tells us how we should go about finding our car. So after breakfast, we set out to the Polizia Municipale station which is luckily in walking distance from where we are staying.

    With a mix of our limited Italian and English, we tell the officer at the desk of our predicament. He kindly berates us for not taking notice of the signage, collects the €41 fine and tells us where our car has been towed. The tow yard is on the outskirts of the city so we taxi out to collect our car. The tow yard manager is ready to make a buck too so we pay up the €110 towage fee so we can get on our way.

    • Tuscan vineyards

    We are already on the outskirts of the city, so set our trusty GPS and off we go. We have plenty of time to hit the road for a slow drive through Chianti. A magnificent day is spent in the Tuscan countryside among the olive groves and vineyards, stopping at intervals wineries for a little wine-tasting and to marvel at the views, take a leisurely lunch and still be back in Sienna in time for pre-dinner cocktails and join the excitement in the city. There’s a concert at the Duomo tonight – X Factor star Marco Mengone is performing.

    • Tuscan countryside

    Read more about taking a drive in the Chianti region here.

    Sienna, Tuscany, Italy

    07/05/2018 / / 3 Comments

    We left the hustle and bustle of Florence for the quieter Tuscan city of Sienna. What a pleasant surprise.

    Sienna is not a large city in comparison to Florence. It has its own uniqueness, the Old Town is a warren of alleyways with the beautiful Duomo with Donatelli and Michaelangelo sculptures and amazing frescoes, the Fort and the sloping main square, Piazza del Campo (suggested to be one of the loveliest in Italy) the main drawcards.

    sienna piazza

    We appreciated making the decision to stay a few days in Sienna as it provided an opportunity to relax, slow our travelling pace and immerse ourselves in the Tuscan countryside.

    We had pre-booked our apartment in the Old Town and were rewarded with a beautiful modern apartment. Set on the top floor of a historic 15th-century building, it is in the pedestrian-only zone providing easy walking access to all the sights and when the day tourists disappeared the alleyways were ours to explore and we had an excellent opportunity to enjoy the local restaurants at our leisure.

    sienna views
    Views from the top of the tower

    Buying a ticket and climbing the 474 or so steps up the Terre del Mangia tower in Piazza del Campo for sweeping views over the city and surrounding countryside was well worth the effort. Although not quite as high up, our apartment, however, provided equally captivating views across the city and further into the Tuscan countryside from its balcony. The only thing was that being a historic building, the apartment could only be accessed by walking up the 90-odd steps.

    sienna balcony
    The view of the Duomo from our apartment balcony.

    Enchanted by the views and solitude we took the opportunity on our first night to enjoy an evening on the balcony with a bottle Tuscan wine accompanied by a variety of cheese followed a light dinner purchased from a restaurant down the street. The apartment has a fully equipped kitchen for cooking meals, as we sometimes tire of eating out every night when travelling.

    Ennio, our host was very helpful, settling us into the apartment, explaining the area, directing us to the closest shops and advising of things to do in Sienna. For those travelling by car, there is a free public car park about 200 metres from the apartment. Just remember that Wednesday is “Market Day” and cars must vacate the certain areas of the car park the night before to accommodate the stalls.

    Our recommendations for dinner and dessert:

    1. We enjoyed a beautiful Tuscan meal at Antica Tratorria Papei. A young pharmacist we met while staying in Genoa recommended we dine at this little restaurant located in a smaller piazza (Piazza Mercato) nestled behind Piazza del Campo.
    2. Our Sienna host, Ennio recommended a humble establishment a little way up the street from our apartment called Osteria Il Vinaio. There is no menu, just dishes of the day. Good, wholesome food.
    3. Make sure you save a little space for dessert. For some traditional Siennese delicacies, step into Bar Paticcerie Nannini and indulge yourself.

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