If beauty was wine Tivoli would be wasted....

On Friday, after much debate the roommates and I decided to go to TIVOLI. Ever since I went the first time I have been DYING to go back! ...

So we left the appt around 10:30 got on Metro line A, switched to B, and got off at the second to last stop around 11. From there we took a Cotral bus to tivoli for 2 euro. When we were looking at the bus schedule it looked like the next bus was at 11:45 but thanks to Italian tardiness we were 15 minutes early for the 10:20 bus.... I know

from there It took about 45 mins to tivoli I was surprised because the bus was pretty much packed and we keep stopping and picking up more people but whether standing or sitting some how we all fit. The bus was full of all locals except for 2 other families of tourists besides us.

When we arrived it was around noon so we decided to have lunch and it a strike of pure genius Amanda Kate and I went to a macelleria/latteria and bought a quarter kilo of salami , some mozzarella and a half loaf of bread and we sat on a bench and made our sandwiches while Jill and Leah ate at a resaurant. so we had lunch for 2.50 euro each instead of the 8 euro it would have cost at the restaurant go us!

After lunch we went to the Villa D'Este which was the home of cardinal Ippilino D'Este and in an effort to live a modest cloister life he lived in a mansion and had a HUGE roman garden with around 400 fountains... Anyway the beauty of this garden can not be expressed in words nor do the pictures do it justice... everyone should see this garden at some point in there life!

After Villa D'este we took a 10 minute walk to Villa Gregoriana which is a newly renovated (2002) park that goes through ruins and the two waterfalls of Tivoli. It is a one and a half hour hike up and down ancient stone stairs through ruins and waterfalls and caves... it was absolutely gorgeous! check out my pics the first waterfall is a 120 m drop and and the second one with the three streams of water I hopped the fence and touched the water so now I can say I went in it!(bad habits i picked up from aunt jo-anne) anyway the hike would have been so grueling but all of the attractions were 5 to 10 minute one way excursions that were small uneven ooooold stairs that you had to walk down to get to only problem was once you were done you had to walk back up .... needless to say my thighs and calves felt grrrreat the next morning but it was worth every step! now I understand why the romans never invented the stairmaster...

After the hike we were in desperate need of sustenance and VINO! and we stumbled upon the restaurant that I ate at the first time I was here. family owned comeplete with with the little grandmother that makes the fresh pasta!! still as delicious! i had the spinach and cheese ravioli... it is the grandmom's specialty ... and to appease you Sonya YES i took a picture of it!

after dinner walked back to the bus stop ... and the park near there was having a concert it was rumba music and all the italians were doing the electric slide!!! funniest thing I ever saw! we started doing the dance on the sidewalk next to the bust stop. the bus came around 9:30 and we were home by 11. we pretty much immediately went to sleep to rest up for la notte bianca!