Italy Day 7

This is the entrance to Calcata.
It's a rainy night in Capena. I'm sitting upstairs with the balcony door open, listening to the rain. I've just finished washing my clothes and I have discovered a new use for the handrail on my stairway........... a clothes line! Logical, right? Hey, it's raining and my clothes need to dry.

I went to Calcata today - an interesting place described as a wacky community of artists. In the 1930's the government condemned Calcata because they were worried that the volcanic rock cliffs on which it was perched would crumble. A new village, Calcata Nuova (New Calcata) was formed not far away. In the 1960's hippies and artists migrated to Calcata Vecchia (Old Calcata) and moved in. Today it houses about 100 residents. It was about a 35 minute drive from Capena on mountain roads. Not a bad drive at all. It was VERY windy and rainy off and on during my somewhat short visit there. There were no people in sight - truly - no people in the village itself.


I love this picture. The sheet centered in the inviting streetscape, fanning in the wind over the old bicycle. For some reason, this picture speaks to me.

A quiet, colorful street in Calcata.







There were lots of archways and plants throughout the town. The stones walkways were quite slippery. No vehicles were in the main city area -- the part through the castle-like entrance.






Pucci, the caretaker of my apartment, visited with me today after I called her with questions about running the washing machine. She gave me some suggestions of day trips to consider. I'm looking forward to exploring Lazio (the region in which I am staying). Tomorrow is supposed to be rather cold and there is a pretty good chance of rain, so I'll hit some of the closer spots. Wednesday I'll take a little longer drive to Tivoli, where I'll visit Villa D'Este, what looks to be a magnificant garden estate. It looks like a full day to see that, so I've decided to wait for a day that should dawn sunny and calm.

Thanks for visiting with me. I'll take you some place interesting tomorrow, I promise. Check back with me when you get a chance.