Return to Roma
Trip Start
May 03, 2007
1
8
17
Trip End
Aug 22, 2007
Valencia, Spain
Monday, June 25, 2007
Sorry about the lapse in time everyone! We have been extremely busy getting back from NJ and getting ourselves back on track. Here is our latest blog about the week before we returned home for Chiara's graduation...
O.K., let's be honest. We were very disappointed that the weather in Stromboli did not cooperate. We had been planning the Stromboli portion of the trip for longer then any other portion because the requirements for going to Stromboli were very complicated. Stromboli does not permit cars to disembark from the ferries from May until October. Thus, we had to arrange with a parking garage in Milazzo (the take off point to Stromboli from Sicily) to keep our car for the 5 days we would be on Stromboli. We then would take the hydrofoil to Stromboli. On the day of our departure from Stromboli the garage personnel would embark our car onto the overnight ferry that leaves Milazzo twice a week, stops in Stromboli where we would embark the boat and we and the car would continue overnight to Naples. However, our expensive bikes would have to go to Stromboli on the hydrofoil with us because the garage would not take responsibility for them. As you can see, the effort would have been very high and with the weather forecast for cloudy, no rain, and highs of 72 degrees F we decided to abort the trip. We love scuba diving but are admittedly whimps in regards to the temperature of the water. Anguilla, the Bahamas, Mozambique, the Red Sea... those are the kinds of places that we really love scuba diving.
So, what do we do?? We have the boat ticket from Civitavecchia (about an hour northwest of Rome) to Barcelona and 5 days to wait. We called Licia Bonsignore, who rented us her mother's apt. when we were in Rome one month ago, and both of her rental properties are not available for the time period we wanted. She said that a friend of hers had a villa outside of Rome where our bikes would not be a problem. He calls us back 2 hours later and we are off to Zagarolo, one hour southeast of Rome to stay for 4 nights in the villa of Stefano Portiolo. We changed our Barcelona departure date by a day so for 4 nights we thought Rome would again be interesting.
We arrive in Zagarolo thanks to good directions and Tom Tom (GPS) to find a slight of build man in his late 40s greeting us to the home of his parents. The home is on 10-15 acres of olive trees (they supplied us with their own olive oil) and is rarely used since the mother passed away 2 years ago. The father must have been very successful because the home was built if 1970 but it had all the features of a home built in the early 1900's. It took a lot of money to add the touches that this home possessed. There were 5 bedrooms and 5 baths, an eat-in kitchen, 2 outside eating areas etc. etc. (see photos). The most memorable room, however, was the meditation area that was built by the owner. This man was a very spiritual person, who spent a lot of time in his life trying to recreate an environment that reflected his love for ancient Roman Art and his desire for tranquility in his surroundings. Some of the sculptures you see in the Meditation area that are mounted into the walls are over 1000 years old. We were able to practice the Primary
Series here in the morning- very motivational!
The four days we spent here were a very peaceful and rejuvenating time. Eating out every day, drinking wine daily and eating too many desserts was starting to become way too routine.
We got some advice from Stefano about checking out the beaches in Sabaudia- was he ever right! This area turned out to be the Bayhead of Rome... .tranquil, quiet, expensive , but worth the ride (see pictures).
We left Italy and headed for another boat (see picture) from Civitavecchia outside Rome to Barcelona. It was an overnight romantic cruise with a handsome stateroom and plenty of time to chill. In Barcelona our great friends Jorge and Ruth Adell invited us to stay the night with them prior to our departure back to the US for Chiara's graduation. They kept the truck, our bikes and all our gear for the five days we spent in NJ. We are eternally grateful to them and their four beautiful children for making us feel so at home!!
And so... back to NJ!!! More to follow- The America's Cup Race is next!!
Comments
Stromboli weather
Hi Karen and Steve
Hate to sound smug but I've just been to the Eolian Islands (Panarea, Stromboli, Salina) and the weather has been incredibly hot - over 40 celsius every day.
Will be updating my blog shortly with details and pictures.
It's great reading about what you did after we met at Selinunte.
un abbraccio
Everard