September 30 - Tivoli

This morning we went to Tivoli, which is a village just outside of Rome.  We went to see the Villa d'Este, which was home to the powerful Cardinal d'Este. In the late 1500’s he built a spectacular garden with more than 500 water fountains on hree terraces to entertain his guests and political allies. These gardens have been used as a blueprint for other European gardens, such as Versailles.

After the rush of yesterday with all the people crowded into one place, it was relaxing to go to an attraction and be able to have a leisurely stroll and relax.

D'Este Gardens

D'Este Gardens

We then headed to the south east coast of Italy and the small village of Selva di Fasano.  During our trip we travelled through the heavy industrial area between Rome and Naples.  During the ride down highway A1, we passed Monte Casino, site of one the major battles in the Second World War.  The Allies were forced to bomb a Monastery on top of this mountain to destroy Nazi spotters, despite a promise to the church not to destroy the Monastery. Unfortunately it had little or no effect on the ability of the Allies to advance to Rome.

We then headed east through the Apian Mountains to the Adriatic coast.  This can be best be described as a desert as it has no natural water sources to irrigate its crops. Population as you would expect was very sparse.

As we got closer to the Adriatic coast there were many olive groves and vineyards.   We then headed back into the hills to our hotel,”Sierra Sivana.”  Despite the negative reviews on Tripadvisor.com, we found this to be a wonderful hotel.  Our room had a nice patio to sit out on.  The hotel's gardens were lush and green.  The bar had an outdoor sitting area that overlooked an Olympic sized swimming pool.  The dinning room was bright and cheerful. 

The price of gas varies from about $2.20 to $2.70/litre.  Just as in Canada the price will go up on weekends and go down at the beginning of the week, but of course the oil companies are not price fixing!  

I guess we have a natural affinity to Australians.  We seem to spend most of our time with a couple from Brisbane or group of ladies from Melbourne.  Marg as usually has gotten to know quite a few people and I suspect by the end of the tour will have several new BBFs.  (sorry Dave and Sue)

Tonight we had drinks with a couple of Canadians, Danielle & Skieth Newman. Skieth played hockey with Yvon Cournoyer and knows many other hockey players through his career as VP in an investment company.  He also knows several politicians and told many interesting stories about the federal Quebec Liberals.