Fountains, and hiking, Italian style

After 2 failed attempts, we got up to Tivoli today. We were quite quick getting there, in part because Karen ran out from the metro and leapt aboard the bus without stopping. And without buying a ticket. Oops. Okay, the bus was in the station and about to leave (they run every 10 minutes, however). We thought you could buy tickets on the bus (we ran past a ticket office, however). They never check for tickets (except this bus had signs asking people to point out ticket violators). We mucked up.

Tivoli sits in the hills above Rome, and is known for the gardens and villas. We first headed into the most famous villa, Villa d'Este, known for its grandiose fountains. And they are indeed grandiose.

The one on top's a separate fountain with a water-powerd organ

Lots of them. Big and small.

Sorry about the raindrop 

The organ

I thought about posting movies of the organ playing. We shot three, and they're actually not bad. They're also huge. As in ginormous. As in the smallest is over 50 Mb, or the equivalent of posting 25 odd photos. Which would take me all night to load.

The fish ponds 

The fish ponds in the spray 

The Eagles 

He needs a kleenex 

The Fountain of the Leaking Boobs 

Not running, but just imagine 

Water rains down on the the tigers 

More tigers. Lots of tigers. All leaking 

Curtains of water 

The balustrade's leaking 

So's this one

The owner of this place liked water. There's at least 40 different fountains and water features, plus manicured gardens. Plus staircases -- lots of staircases -- and spectacular views.

Rome's in the distance (no tall buildings so you can't see it) 

Stairs and ramps 

Lots of stairs 

Lots and lots of stairs

Manicured hedgerows

Our second stop was Villa Gregoriana. For the record, it's not a villa. It's a spectacular chasm full of waterfalls and lush vegetation that is reminiscent of hiking on Maui (if Maui didn't divert all the water to grow sugar cane). Think hiking up waterfalls on the Hana coast, only with marble steps built by the Romans. Okay, it was actually a chasm known by the Romans but re-engineered to control flooding by a Pope in 1835 -- overlooked by two Roman temples.

They can't decide which is the Temple of Vestra or Sybil 

The path leads deep -- 120 m deep -- into the gorge, which contains an old Roman house.

Rooms and foundations 

Life in the cliff walls

There's a whacking huge 130 m waterfall, resulting from them tunnelling through the rock to divert the majority of the river that runs through town.

Just the top part

Just the bottom. The middle's missing

Getting to this overlook is "interesting".

An "uncomfortable walk"

 Down deeper in the chasm are several other big waterfalls, two of which are about 50 m each.

In the lush gorge

These appear through something called Neptune's Grotto.

From the other side

Up close

Actually, less then half the water comes out of the waterfall in the shot above. Most pours out of another grotto under the waterfall, which was tough to get a photo of.

To access this grotto and waterfall, the Romans bored a tunnel through the rock (before that, they apparently used a rope).

The tunnel 

What it looks like from the other side

All this water disappears into a hole in the ground (called the Mermaid Grotto) and emerge as another waterfall just out of sight.

The temples literally sit on the cliff's precipice.

No falling over 

Did I mention I like columns? 

Yep, columns 

Corinthian caps on them columns

Tivoli itself is a pretty little town sitting on a hillside, and nice respite from the bustle of Rome. The "villas" are the most popular bit, but there are others we didn't get to, such as Rocca Pia, a fortress built in 1416...

Very gothic 

Nice towers

...or the Roman Temple of the Tosse, kind of like a miniature Pantheon, built in the 4th century...

I like the hole in the ceiling

...or the Sanctuary of Hercules the Winner, circa 2nd Century. It was huge; the metal frame is what the front of it used to look like...

Note the amphitheatre on the left

...or the Villa of Hadrian, which is 4 km out of town at the bottom of the hill, but supposedly a superb site.

Next time. There's always a next time.

Tomorrow, the Vatican Museums are free, for it is the last Sunday of the month. Wonder what the crowd will be like?

And no, Tony, despite your fine recommendation I'm not going to race though to be the first in the Sistine Chapel. I've been in there 3 times already, and they don't allow photos at all these days.