For starters, I got super turned around while trying to get to the bus station in Rome. I had to take the metro almost to the end of the line, which sounds like no problem right? Well, it turned out that the train I needed to take split into two routes at some point. So I ended up at the wrong "end of the line" and had to turn around to discover that I could not find where I needed to take the right line! Some running, and a nice kiosk lady later and I finally found the right track. When I got to the right station I then had a hard time finding the ticket office as it was in a news stand below, and behind the station (jeeez). After this, I totally guessed at what bus to take, as they all said "Tivoli." I had read that they all take different routes, and I thought my ticket would say which bus was mine but all it said was "Tivoli." So I chose a bus and looked at the bus driver like a lost puppy and pointed at my ticket and he said it was right!
So by this time I was pretty freaking drained. English is not very prevalent in Italy, and I found out that often times my spanish wouldn't pass either (the two languages are supposedly very similar, but someone in my hostel said the two were about as similar as English and German). Once on the bus I just hung out and tried to calm myself down and I was frantically praying that I wouldn't end up in some random hole. I did discover that the surrounding area of Rome is pretty butt-ugly, and I would hate living in that area (Spain for the win!). Once I made it to Tivoli (more hand gestures and broken Spanish to figure out when to get out) I was able to grab a map and walk around a bit. Most places were closed due to Good Friday (everything was open in Rome) so I ate a very very bland "caprese" sandwich, that I'm pretty sure had a bug in it. I found Villa d'Este and they refused to give me a student discount even with my Spanish student visa because I wasn't an EU citizen. The Vatican was hot and ready to give me a discount, but Villa d'Este just didn't care all that much.
It took a lot for me to shake of the feeling of just crap and I had to reflect a lot on what I was even upset about. I made it where I wanted to go, the food didn't kill me, and I was in Italy. So I sucked it up and took the next couple of hours for reflection and relaxation in Villa d'Este. And now I finish my long tirade about my travel woes and show you some pictures!
This is what Tivoli looks like. It is incredibly old, it was founded by the Romans in 338 BC and started to develop itself more around the 10th century. This town is older than the United States and many established countries today. Around Tivoli there isn't much to see, really, besides Villa d'Este and Villa Hadriana, which I didn't visit because after taking so long to get to Tivoli, I only had time for one stop. Walking around was great because there was hardly anyone there and I just chose random alley ways to walk down and twist through the center of the town.
This fountain is inside of Villa d'Este. The gardens are the main attraction of the Villa as it is covered in various fountains and water features. I kept thinking about how stellar it would have been to hang out with the guy that created this place. Just to chill in his "backyard."
Hyacinth
This fountain was particularly exciting for me because it was what I remembered the most from the movie that made me want to go here so badly.
Behind this fountain are little alcoves with other, smaller, fountains. Many of the smaller fountains in alcoves like this were not operating. I'm not sure why they weren't operating, but they looked incredibly old.
A close up of the details inside the fountain pictured above.
Daffodils
The previous picture is the view from the top of this fountain, above.
Most of the fountains were covered in moss. It made me think a lot of my mom because she has a very serious relationship with moss. I would say she cherishes it, as she's always saving little pieces of it from places we visit or yelling "WATCH OUT FOR THAT MOSS, IT'S DELICATE!"
The view from the gardens. Rome is waaaay in the back.
Kittuhn
It's so crazy for me to see different types of birds and plants and animals here in Europe. I always knew that the flora and fauna were different around the world (I am slightly educated), but it is strange to not know the names of just about anything!
For my dad: the water is running down :P
Inside of the villa. Each room had incredible gilded ceilings.
The view from the villa.
The tiny square at the entrance of the villa.
So that was my trip to Tivoli! I was pretty quick to get out of the town itself so I caught the first bus I saw that said "Roma." Though I was wary of the bus situation, so I asked the bus driver "Roma? Segura?" about every 10 minutes. It turns out that the bus I took wound through countless little stops and villages to pick everyone in the world up! It was beautiful, so despite it taking twice the time to get back to Rome so I decided to relax and enjoy my random adventure.
Getting back to my hostal was a breeze once I got into Rome and I stopped by the place next door to get some pizza with thinly sliced potatoes and rosemary on top! Quite delicious.
So that's it! I hope you didn't suffer too much. Up next will be Florence!
-Autumn
