Civitavecchia Part 1

Civitavecchia - Part 1

Today we had a private tour organised with Fabrizio who we have been on tour with before. Unfortunately Fabrizio was already committed to someone else so we had his brother, Valentino.... good Italian names!

Civitavecchia is the port closest to Rome but it is quite a trek to get into the city as it is about a 2 hour drive or more depending on the traffic. We had friends that took the train into Rome and had no problems working out the system.

As we have been to Rome before and have visited all the iconic historical sites we opted for a tour into the roman countryside around Tivoli.

Tivoli is about a 2 hour trip by road with no traffic delays. Although it was peak hour when we set out it didn't really affect our travel time.

Our first stop was to Hadrian's Villa.... or Adriana as he was also called. "Villa Adriana" is an extraordinary complex realised in the 2nd century AD by the emperor Hadrian. The Villa covers a huge amount of land with separate lodgings and bath houses for his wife and slaves. Over the years the ruins have been buried and are still being excavated today.

This place must have been amazing in its day with lots of white and coloured marble on the walls and floors, the mosaic floors and murals painted on the walls.... a sight to behold!

The weather was warm to hot with bursts of sunlight and an electrical storm just as we were finishing walking around the site. It made for a quick dash back to the van but by then the sun was shining again and stayed that way for a perfect sail away later that afternoon.

When we had finished exploring the site we headed for the town of Tivoli where we stopped for lunch before visiting Villa D'Este with it's famous water system and beautiful Italian Renaissance style gardens and fountains. We were there to listen to the Fountain of the Organ playing the concertino as a chamber orchestra.

We opted for a quick lunch break so that we would have more time to explore the Villa and gardens. Our guide, Barbara recommended a pizza shop which had the most amazing pizzas and good fast free wifi!

The Villa had beautifully painted fresco style rooms painted by Raphael's best pupils.

At 3pm we had to leave the beautiful old town of Tivoli for our 2 hour drive back to the ship via a quick stop at a supermarket.

Another great day was had with friends and visiting one of my favourite countries... I love Italy!!

Next stop is Genoa in a different part of Italy.... the Italian Riviera!! My most favourite part of Italy!!!