Some little known treats of Italy

Appia Antica.  It's been on our 'visit' list since we arrived.  We finally had time this week to visit.  It's an amazing place.  So old, like 300BC!!  So much history.  It's the original road from Rome to the coast.  Here you can see the ruts made from the horse carts and chariots.  They still allow cars to drive on this road because amongst the thousand year monuments, there are modern day gargantuan villas.  We drove here and from our apartment it is less than 1/2 hour away.

This place has a feeling that is hard to put into words.  It's very peaceful, very serene.  It echoes of the innumerable people who have walked here for centuries, yet it feels like you are alone.  They do rent bikes because it is 6 km in length, but we walked it and really soaked in the feeling.  I will admit however that we have done it in stages, not all 6 km in one shot.

Originally there were monuments that lined this main road.  Monuments to people who had passed on.  They weren't buried here, just honored here.  There were old villas, chapels, and remnants of history and battles all along the road.  It's really a must see while you are in Rome.

This 'Monster Park' was interesting.  The Orsini family was very wealthy.  They built a lot of castles and villas and this was a park that was created for a deceased wife in honor of her.  This park is located about an hour north of Rome.

A 'crooked house' in the monster park.  The park is a whimsical place with lots of mythical statues and houses, and chapels, and fountains.

This is the piazza of San Lorenzo in Viterbo.  The pope wanted to live here and for a time in history this was the center of the Catholic Church.  It's a nice little village and combined with the monster park, makes for a nice day outing from Rome.

Now onto Torino....St. Valentino's castle in Torino.  How about this for those 10 acres in Heber?

From the terrace of the castle of St. Valentino in Torino

We spent an afternoon at a cafe along the river Po in Torino.  The river was active with rowers and kayakers.  We sipped thick hot chocolate that was simply to die for (the cafe is part of the medieval village along the river)  as we enjoyed the scene on the river.

Torino has an area of Roman archeological sites, and this was the original northern door to the city.

This apartment is definitely the place to stay if you come to Torino.  It's called:  Palazzo Del Carretto Art Apartments.  It was originally a villa and they have restored the frescoes on the walls.  It's newly renovated  and cool and comfortable and luxurious.  It is right downtown and you can literally walk everywhere.  

At the movies....oh oops, guess they won't be watching, will they?

Torino.  Full of porticos, arcades....and street after street like this with high end shopping.  There are numerous huge plazas and palazzos with fountains and statues, benches and people.  It's an overlooked, undervalued city, and it's marvelous!  I can't decide if we should let the world know?

Just another beautiful mall.  The mountains are not far from Torino, in fact this was the location of the winter olympics of 2006.

Oh my goodness.  How is it that the Italians have their hot chocolate down to a fine art?  You have to eat it with a spoon, it's a tad bitter instead of too sweet....and they charge you way too much for it and yet we still indulge!  Did I tell you that Torino is where nutella was invented?  Steve, you must make a pilgrimage here.