Anyway, we endured the economy class carriage with dirty seats, graffiti’d windows, smelly carriage and young beggars with three brothers that can’t find work and were met at Frascati station by Andrea and Valentina with two cars.
[caption id="attachment_31" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="In Frascati"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_37" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Mansion in Frascati"]
[/caption]We had a quick walk around town, then on to where Andrea wanted to take us for lunch, but alas the place was closed. We walked a bit more, got some free meat from a butcher and found an awesome cantina down some stairs for lunch. They had heaps of hot food displayed and you pick and choose what you want from that and pay for what you eat. We had these tomatoes stuffed with rice and a pasta salad. All the food was really tasty and fresh. I get the feeling that Italians are kinda picky about food and that’s what you get at the authentic places – good food. We chose the cantina as the place for Ruth to share the news with Andrea and Vale (“…we’ve got some news…”) and that’s just what she did :)
[caption id="attachment_39" align="alignright" width="150" caption="fragoline con panna"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_34" align="alignright" width="150" caption="View of the lake from Nemi"]
[/caption]After lunch we drove to a little town nearby called Nemi. It was probably the coolest place I’ve been so far (ever!). It was a fairytale village on the top of a hill overlooking a glistening lake. Birds flew around and created a very peaceful atmosphere. We took a short walk around town and stopped at a café that specialised in all things Fragoline. The town is quite high up and the view was amazing from the café. We got some fragoline con panna (mini strawberries with cream) and chillaxed for a good while.
[caption id="attachment_40" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Cathedral in Acaccia"]
[/caption]After a bit more exploring in Nemi and checking out the house prices (which were actually quite affordable), we went on to another town nearby named something like Acaccia. We parked on a bridge which was actually another Roman aqueduct except even bigger than the ones we saw on the train. The Romans were so impressive to build such huge structures that have lasted for so long. We checked out the local cathedral there, walked a bit and got some ice-cream. I have come to realise there is a 3 point “Italian town” checklist – food, something catholic (eg a cathedral) and heaps of walking (check, check, check).
[caption id="attachment_35" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Pope's summer residence"]
[/caption]To finish off the day, we drove to the next town. We made a booking for a restaurant at 8 (nothing opens before then much to Ruth’s dismay) and started killing some time (it was probably only 6.30pm by this stage). The town had another lake and we walked about half way around this one (check - walking), tested some of the local foods along the way (fried olives in batter) (check - food), and had a rest on an old pier. From the lake you can see the Pope’s summer residence (check – something catholic). The lakes are actually craters caused by something I wasn’t quite listening to, but probably dinosaurs or aliens or maybe an old volcano Ruth has advised. We walked back around the lake and had dinner just with “Il Gladiatore” (The Gladiator) showing in the background. I’m pretty sure I also saw Lily Allen but I don’t remember her being able to speak Italian nor looking slightly different to the real Lily Allen.
Overall, we all had a great time today.
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