I was due to meet Tiziana and Federico a 4pm at Santa Maria del Soccorso tube station so I spent some time working out the easiest route for this. Trouble is, you have no idea how long these journey are if you have never done them before and where we were to meet was the complete other side of the city. I worked out the best thing for me to do was take the 44 bus to La Bocca del Verita, walk past the Circo Masimo to the tube and then take the tube up to where I was to meet them. I left just after half past 2 to get the bus. I got to the Tube station at around 3:50 so not too bad!
I met Tiziana, Federico and their friend Fabio and we all piled into the car towards Tivoli. Tivoli is a beautiful hillside town on the outskirts of Rome. There are several ancient sites that are worth a visit and today we were off to Villa Adriana. This is the Villa of Hadrian, better known to us English people as that chap that built the wall between Scotland and England....
Hadrian didn't like living in Rome day to day, he found it too busy and crowded, so he decided to build himself a 'Little Rome' on the outskirts of the city. This city was a 'kept court' by his servants and slaves at all time so whenever he decided he wanted to be there it was a fully functioning entity.
You could feel its opulence and grandeur as soon as you walked in. The first thing you see is a wonderful space filled with water... as you approach you can see the emerald water glistening in the sun, the turtles basking and the fish playfully flirting in the sunlight. This was apparently a meditation area and an area of relaxation for Hadrian... I can see why...
We then continued to wander through the ruins... I have to say, they were some of the most beautiful sights I have seen in Rome... Statues, domes, banks of water, all set in such a Romanesque way... Absolutely stunning and me waxing lyrical about it cannot do it justice.
We continued to wander through the olive trees in the blistering heat... The crickets making their cry, the sun beating down... I was quietly content and in heaven... plus all this uphill walking meant guilt free pizza later!!!
We wandered and wandered amongst the ruins, its beauty I could not even begin to describe, but if I was in Hadrian's court, I would have been happy to live here :)
We made our way towards the end of the ruins and then all of a sudden you could sense the weather changing.... It became a little dark and a little fearsome.... The sky over the mountains became rather dark....
The heavens opened.... we all took cover under an olive tree as it was the only way we could keep dry.... We were in a completely open space with no shelter.... We stood for 10 minutes until the shower passed and we made our way back to the car...
And then we went for pizza and beer :) We made our way through the village around the Villa Adriana and Fabbio decided he wanted a coffee, so we stopped at a little cafe shop, it was full of Italian men playing table football and talking, drinking beer or cafe... we stood at the bar, drank our cafe, and then moved on... safe to say, true Italian cafe is.... WOW! no wonder you only need the tiniest amount as it knocks your socks off and will keep you awake for hours but its so smooth and silky.... perfect :)
We then started winding through the back streets on our way to a restaurant that they had all been to several times before. It is like half pub, half restaurant. You can choose which side you sit. So we started driving through the back of an industrial estate and Tizianas words were... "It's OK, we thought the same when we first came here.... its worth it trust me".
We turned a corner and this beautiful pub/restaurant came into view. We piled out of the car and wandered around the back and sat by the lovely outside bar. Beer was served in plastic pint glasses, there was a huge pizza oven at the back of the pub and there was just the right sort of music playing.... Then Tiziana's friend Alessia came, who we had had dinner with last Friday... I felt a firm group of friends building in Rome :)
We sat, talked, drank beer, and then food came... deep fried rice with mozzarella in breadcrumbs... one of the most beautiful things I have ever eaten! Along with this were fried mozzarella balls... who wouldn't want to eat fried mozzarella!! Amazing...
We then had more beer and we ordered pizza.... It was amazing. I could barely eat half of it but it was sooooooooooooo good! Perfect end to a perfect evening I felt!!!
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