Italy Day 9 - Villa d'Este

"Villa d'Este at Tivoli, with its palace and garden, is one of the most significant and complete examples of the culture of the Renaissance in its most refined expression. Its innovative concept, the creativity and ingenuity of its architectural works constitutes an incomparable example of the Italian Garden of the 16th century."

That's the intro the guidebook I purchased today. I couldn't find a way to describe the gardens, so I "borrowed" from the book. To think this was created in the mid 16th century boggles the mind. In the first picture, I chose the one that I'm in because I figured it was time to prove that I'm actually here!

The avenue is flanked by the streams of the Hundred Fountains, although in reality there are more than three times that number of spouts. It was difficult to get them all in!

Villa d'Este is a palace, as well as the gardens. The palace is phenomenal (of course) and had beautiful frescoes in every room. There are explanations of the story told by each room, so it was really quite interesting. This was in the center of the ceiling in the first room and depicts God appearing to Noah.

More pictures of the water features. The sound of the water flowing was quite soothing. I can't even tell you how many fountains were in the garden area. They were all unique in their own way.

This is up and beside the top area of the main fountain that you see in the first picture.

Market day in the city of Tivoli -- where the Villa is.

Today actually began quite disappointing. I got up early, made it to Tivoli without incident, found a parking spot (thank you, God) and entered the Villa only to be told that the water wasn't working and they weren't sure when (if) it would be repaired that day. I chose to enter anyway, and soon realized that the garden area wasn't a garden with a few fountains in it............ it's fountains placed in a garden setting. It looked incomplete and that, coupled with the workers using power tools to cut branches and having equipment spread around, made for a rather unpleasant experience.

When in doubt, shop. The town of Tivoli is beautiful and I had already paid for parking, so I explored the town. I found it very enjoyable and it had some unique shops to explore. I had my first cappuccino in Italy, found a gelatorria (actually I've found them pretty regularly here!), and bought some lovely little Christmas-y decorations. I came upon a church and when I went in I realized they were having mass in Latin. Cool. I'm rude enough that I took a couple of pictures (my camera is pretty silent and I don't use flash in churches, so I don't think anyone noticed) while standing in the back of the church.

After a few hours I headed back to the Villa d'Este and was thrilled to find that the water was working again! Yea!!! They allowed me back in without re-paying and I really enjoyed it the second time. The weather was beautiful -- sunny and pleasant --- as opposed to really, really cold in the morning. I skipped the palace since I had already explored that in the morning and headed straight for the gardens. There were only a few people there, so it was very peaceful. I was able to sit and read for an hour or so while listening to the water and enjoying the beautiful surroundings. (By the way.... I'm reading "Same Kind of Different as Me" which is a true story by Ron Hall and Denver Moore ----- exceptionally good.)

It was somewhat of a melancholy day for me, though, because I was really missing my mom. (For those of you that don't know, she passed away October 18.) I kept thinking how much she would've liked it there. Though I know she's in a much more beautiful place than those gardens, I still would liked to have shared it with her.

Anyway, I haven't decided what tomorrow holds. I've got a few possibilities. I guess it'll be a surprise to us all!