Fair warning, this post will be picture heavy.
Clear blue skies as the sun breaks the mountains. A piercing blue that seems impossibly blue. It is a special sunrise that pictures can’t do justice.
Today we head to Rome. There is an element of luxury in having a car. Sometimes it is hard to justify when Europe has some of the best rail networks in the world. I doubt Robert Frost had GPS on his phone when he came to his choice, but we do. It is a two hour drive to Rome from Montepulciano by direct route. If you avoid major roads, it is just over four hours. I would rather lose a few hours in the Lazio countryside than spend time on a freeway. If you have a car, make the most of it.
“Choosing a path meant having to miss out on others. She had a whole life to live, and she was always thinking that, in the future, she might regret the choices she made now.”
Paulo Coelho
We wind our way through farms and climb mountains where walled cities loom over the road. When the sun is out it is so bright it is painful, and then we drop into a valley and the fog is so thick you cannot see the road ahead.
As we take the windy roads the conversation turns to future plans. It is often the case, at least in our experience, that if you push hard for an outcome, it fails to materialise. More often, you move with the flow of living, and opportunity presents itself. We have vague plans for the future that often change, more importantly, we strive for the flexibility to take opportunity when it presents itself. I refuse to call it fate.
“Chance rules our lives, and the future is all unknown. Best live as we may, from day to day.”
Sophocles
So we find ourselves taking the long road to Rome when we see a sign. Not a burning bush or a weeping statue, a literal sign. The sign is for Sacro Bosco, a 16th century garden commissioned by Pier Francesco Orsini. Designed by Pirro Ligorio and filled with the most incredible sculptures from Simone Moschino, the works were dedicated to Pier’s wife, Giulia Farnese.
“I come to a red light, tempted to go through it, then stop once I see a billboard sign that I don’t remember seeing and I look up at it. All it says is ‘Disappear Here’ and even though it’s probably an ad for some resort, it still freaks me out a little and I step on the gas really hard and the car screeches as I leave the light.”
Bret Easton Ellis
These are gardens that Shell has wanted to visit for years. Serendipitously following a conversation about things presenting themselves, certainly not fate, we are following the signs to Sacro Bosco, having no intention of visiting, not even knowing where it was in Italy. Through chance, by taking the long road to Rome, we are driving through Bomarzo, in the shadow of castle Orsini, hoping the gardens will be open the day after Christmas.
And they are. It will cost us 13 euros each and it is worth every cent. The pictures will do better than my words, but I will say, Sacro Bosco is definitely a garden to visit in the winter.
It is getting close to lunch and Shell starts looking for restaurant options in the phone. We have had so much success with village osteria’s delivering incredible local food. Only twenty minutes from Sacro Bosco we are in the mountain village of Corchiano waiting outside La Taverna Delle Forre for a seat.
It was worth the wait.
“everything comes in time to him who knows how to wait . . . there is nothing stronger than these two: patience and time, they will do it all.”
Leo Tolstoy
The house vino blanco is delicious and matches perfectly with the antipasto di pesce. The first three plates look good, then another plate, and then two more. A feast of seafood. I could not get enough of the acciuga (anchovy). Next came primi, Shell orders the fettuccine ai frutti di mare (seafood) and I order the pappardelle con lepre (hare). Both are beautiful and for the first, we are too full for dolci.
The rest of the drive is fine. We face some difficulty finding a park in the heart of Rome. Like any city, it is not built for traffic and parking. The parking garages are all shut, I assume because it is St Stephen’s Day and Europcar is not open until tomorrow. After driving around the block for a few hours (not an exaggeration), we finally find a park and check in to CIVICO 7.
And it feels like home.
We spent almost two months here on our cycling trip and loved it.
The car gets returned tomorrow and I can’t wait to walk the familiar streets of the Eternal City.