It was easy to pick a topic, since writing about Tivoli has been on my mind anyway.\u00a0 Being the pigrone<\/i> (translation: big, lazy slob) that I am, I saw this as a perfect opportunity to maximize my exposure while minimizing my effort by pairing it with the post that you\u2019re presently skimming through.\u00a0 But also because the town of Tivoli holds a bitter-sweet place in my heart.\u00a0 Sweet because it\u2019s where my wife and I went on our first date.\u00a0 Bitter because, for some reason, this is the Questura I was assigned to when applying for my first Permesso di Soggiorno<\/a>, requiring me to make about six futile visits there in the course of seven months.\u00a0 Anyone who has read my previous blog posts on the subject has a pretty good idea how I feel.\u00a0 \u201cBitter\u201d only scratches the surface. Grrrr\u2026<\/p>\n So yes, I know Tivoli much better than any other of the little villages around Rome, and there are several spots in the immediate area worth a close look.\u00a0 There\u2019s the Villa of Emperor Hadrian, who built a sprawling compound near Tivoli in the 2nd<\/sup> century A.D., complete with palaces, pools, libraries, temples, and a theater. \u00a0Hadrian was an enthusiastic traveler and he drew inspiration from the many civilizations he encountered along his voyages, particularly Egypt and Greece. \u00a0These influences can be seen throughout the architecture of the remaining ruins.\u00a0 Take a deep breath and you\u2019ll smell the sulfurous odor of the natural hot springs (terme<\/i>) nearby, which Hadrian and his fellow Romans believed had therapeutic qualities.\u00a0 Nineteen centuries later, they\u2019re still there and open for business.<\/p>\n On the outskirts of Tivoli is the park of Villa Gregoriana, which features two temples from the 2nd<\/sup> and 3rd<\/sup> centuries B.C. \u00a0Follow the path down into a plummeting gorge and enjoy the refreshing waterfalls at the bottom of the ravine. \u00a0When you arrive, you\u2019ll discover the secret caves of Neptune and the Sirens\u2014a cool refuge during the heat of August.<\/p>\n The crown jewel, however, is Villa D\u2019Este where the sophisticated style of the late Renaissance transitions into the awkwardness of the mannerism era, and finally giving way to baroque exaggerations. This place has something for everyone, whether you\u2019re a lover of art, architecture, history, landscape design, or just natural beauty.\u00a0 Please check on my article this week on the Italian Talks website<\/a> to read more about this incredible Villa and its even more incredible gardens.\u00a0 Visiting Tivoli from Rome is easy–just a one hour train ride from the center of Rome to Tivoli station and then a short walk to both Villa D’Este and Villa Gregoriana.<\/p>\n Thanks again to Italian Talks for inviting me on board.\u00a0 Their website is a fantastic source of information.\u00a0 More than that, as their tagline says, it\u2019s really a collection of \u201cItalian stories by true lovers of Italy.\u201d \u00a0I\u2019m truly honored to be part of their team.<\/p>\n How to reach Villa D\u2019Este<\/strong> Visiting the Villa and Gardens<\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last week, while contemplating other themes that would readily lend themselves to my snarky commentary, a friend of mine asked me to write an article for a website that she manages called Italian Talks.\u00a0 She explained that they\u2019ve recently repurposed their content and have invited a few heavyweights in the travel blogging niche to become […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[149,42],"tags":[456,153,454,160,25,455],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1580"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"villa](\"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/IMGP0583.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"visiting](\"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/P7251067.jpg\")
Visiting Tivoli from Rome<\/h2>\n
\nTivoli is easily reached by train from the center of Rome in about an hour.\u00a0 Take the Roma-Pescara Line to Stazione Tivoli, and walk across the bridge to the center of town.\u00a0 There are many street signs pointing the way to the villa.
\nAddress: Piazza Trento, 5, 00019 Tivoli, Province of Rome, Italy<\/p>\n
\nVisiting Hours are from 8:30 a.m. until one hour before sunset.\u00a0 The villa is closed on Mondays as well as January 1st, May 1st, and December 25th.
\nThe Hydraulic Organ Fountain is active daily, from 10:30 a.m., every two hours.<\/p>\n