Outside Rome: Tivoli

Ciao Stranger,

After a week long stay on a ship, it felt good to be back in Rome. And being as efficient as I could, I did my laundry, took a quick nap to fuel my body and went out to meet my beloved Erasmus friends at night. Oh how I've missed them so. :) Since I don't have class on Friday, I hibernated in my room, catching up on TV shows, movies, and sleep. Man did it feel good to be a slump for a day: a taste of the old Michelle.

Early Saturday morning, the crew decided to head to Tivoli, a city that's about a 45min bus/train ride away from Rome. Ever wonder where they got all the limestones to build the Colosseum? Yep, Tivoli. Since we were taking a bus there, I thought we would be doing minimum walking and decided to wear heels. What a mistake that was. Oh well, at least I got a great workout that day. Our first stop was Hadrian's Villa, a retreat for the Roman emperor back in the 2nd century AD, and now all that's left are mostly ruins. On our way to the Villa, multiple cars and pedestrians stopped and offered (free-willingly) to give us directions. That's definitely unheard of in Rome, so plus points for Tivoli! Once you enter the villa, the first thing you see is this pleasant pond surrounded by lavender. Gather around, it's time for mandatory group pictures! 

The rest of the villa looked something like this. Ruins, green algae filled ponds, trees, and more ruins. Thoughts? Adequate, but wouldn't suggest this place if you're on a tight schedule.

 Hadrian's Villa is actually at the bottom of the mountain, and from it, you can see Tivoli.

 And the view from Tivoli down the mountain. What a contrast. How creative of me!

Once we got to the actual city of Tivoli, we made a pit stop for lunch at a local restaurant. Below is a picture of Alex's lunch, shrimp and calamari pasta. Being a picky Frenchman, he claims that it is the best meal he's ever had in his life. "I culd juzt die right now". I just had a bite of his calamari and I have to say, it was the best calamari I've ever tasted in my life. Full of flavour and it tasted surprisingly fresh, even though we were on top of a mountain. If I ever go back to Tivoli again, I'm getting this pasta for sure.

Inside the Villa d'Este, built for a Cardinal, you'll find a garden beyond anything you could imagine. Over 500 jets of water from fountains and ponds, it makes everything seem almost fairytale like. Just when you think you've seen the most stunning water fountain and put your camera away, you walk 5 steps and find an even more impressive one and can't resist taking out your camera again. Word of advice, just keep your camera on the whole time you're there. It's impossible to take a bad picture with a jaw dropping background like this.

I wish I had this as my backyard. I would definitely never leave my house then, and this time, I'll have a legitimate reason too.

Another group picture, because how could you resist not to take a picture there? Simply impossible.

Yeah, this is part of the garden too. I highly recommend coming here. If you have an extra day to spare in Rome, I HIGHLY recommend you to go up to Tivoli, eat their shrimp and calamari pasta at the restaurant by the train station, go to Villa d'Este with a working camera to snap a gazillion pictures, walk around the town which has a great suburban vibe to it, sit down at a local bar and crab a coffee (or tea in my case) and people watch. You won't regret it, trust me. It's one of my favourites "in" Rome.

Everyone passed out on the bus on our way back, but instead of heading home to relax on my bed, I trekked my way to the airport to pick up my brother. Since it's his spring break, he's spending 2 weeks in Europe with me. Don't worry, I'll have more on our travelling adventures on my next blog.