Ciao a Roma

In our last day in Rome we met our professor at the train station on the south side of town once again. We took a two hour train to a little town called Bagnaia near the city of Viterbo. The town houses a villa built by a rich cardinal in the 16th century.We spent about 2 hours exploring the site and roaming through the many parterre gardens. The gardens are famous for the series of fountains that are created without pumps. they stem from a single stream that comes from the hills and the garden was designed as a metaphor for the embracement of nature during the time of the Italian Renaissance. I have to admit that it was a little dissappointing after Villa d'Este. This garden only charge 2 euro to the 6 of d'Este and they have many less visitors in Bagnaia. The structures were covered with lichen and the fountains contained months' growth of algae. I suppose in a way, the disrepair added to the antique and aged appeal of the garden, but the uneven parterres made me sad. I ate my bag lunch in the town square while most of the class ate at the restaurant. I didn't mind though, I spent much less on lunch, and I was full when I finished. When we returned from out series of trains and buses, we walked around the city so that jackie could find a shot glass for her collection. We are making dinner in our apartment tonight before we wait up and leave for Florence tommorrow at 6 am.