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Sept 23rd, our last field trip |
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written
by Lesley Everett / 07.04.2004 |
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Itinerary |
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Today we took the last field trip and bus ride of the class. We set off at 7:30 AM with Carlos, our usual bus driver, for a day of hill towns and Renaissance gardens. Our first stop was the beautiful Villa Farnese in Caprarola, known most of all for its elaborate gardens and grounds. The villa itself is actually a pentagonal-shaped palace with a round courtyard in the middle where scenes in "The Godfather" (part II) were shot. We walked through the second floor rooms, admired the lavish ceiling frescoes which depict "the greatest hits of the Farnese family" as Shawn said, and gazed at the constellations painted into the sky of the "map room." The guide showed us a secret about one very normal looking room- if someone talks or whispers directly into one of the corners of the room, a person facing into the opposite corner can hear every word perfectly by some amazing architectural design and acoustical effects. After seeing the interior of the villa, we walked outside in the lower gardens full of hedge mazes and a rock grotto. Unfortunately, the world-famous upper gardens which we had come all the way to Caprarola to see were closed until later in the day.
After Villa Farnese, we had only a short bus ride to Bagnaia and the Renaissance gardens of Villa Lante. Although not as famous or extensive as the Farnese gardens, Villa Lante was a wonderful place for an afternoon stroll and picture taking. The gardens were perfectly groomed and laid out in symmetrical designs with respect to one central line- even the stairs, fountains, and shrubs were in perfect balance and order. Villa Lante was like nothing else we've seen in Rome, and everyone enjoyed the opportunity to be outside and away from the big city.
Our last stop was in Civita di Bagnoregio, a tiny town perched up on its own mountain and only accessible by walking through anther town and over a long bridge. The people of Civita used to grow grapes and olives on the hillside below their town and barricade themselves inside their walls for protection against invaders. There's no economy or agriculture left now, though, and the town is maintained by only 8 permanent residents. Cars and scooters are prohibited, and everyone goes in and out of the town on the bridge (that's the only entrance) on foot or on bike. The town's brick houses, cheery flowerpots and shutters, and beautiful viewpoints over the valley reminded me of Pienza, but Civita was clearly the less touristy of the two. We visited an old olive oil mill and bruschetta restaurant which has been run by the same family for 9 generations, and of course we sampled the menu! I've never tasted such wonderful olive oil! On the walk back, we stopped to admire an ancient Etruscan foundation upon which a house belonging to a UW professor was built, then we headed to the bus and drove back to Rome.
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Highlights |
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The highlights of the day were definitely the "clapping room" in Villa Farnese and the olive oil mill in Civita. There's a particular spot in the center of the room where a person's clap will echo and bounce back and forth across the arched ceiling- it makes a totally different type of sound than a clap made from any other place in the room does. As if that wasn't entertaining enough, the room has an even better acoustical secret. If two people stand in opposite corners of the room and talk (or even whisper) directly into the walls, they can hear each other perfectly and carry on a conversation from across the room. Before long we were all crouching around the corners and whispering back and forth (looking like great fools, I'm sure), but we'd only just caught the hang of it when the guard made us leave and continue the tour.
The olive oil mill in Civita has a normal brick facade but is built into a rocky cliff. There's an old stone mill which was powered by a horse or donkey and many candle-lit tables inside under the rocks. We ordered bruschetta for everyone and tried some of the family's wines, too. We ate pomodoro, olive, artichoke, egglplant, and cheese bruschettas, all made with the fantastic local olive oil. The owners were incredibly friendly and generous, especially considering the size of our group and the amount of food we ordered, and they even offered us samples of a 5 day old wine which still tasted like sparkling fruit juice. Civita in general was an amazing place to explore and gave us all a great break from the hectic atmosphere in Rome.
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Images |
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pictures are coming
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