March 02, 2007

Italy Travelogue: Day 5

Rome and beyond

The previous day’s excitements were bit too much I guess which took the toll on my daughter, who reacted with vomiting and fever in the morning of the final day. S. went to a book shop while I stayed back home with the little one. We took our lunch early and got on board the car with our luggage for another adventure before our evening flight. We drove through some of the main tourist spots of ancient Rome, went past many Piazzas and then proceeded towards our final destination.

Lago Albano, or the Lake of Albano is a small crater-lake in the Alban Hills, 15 miles southeast of Rome. The city Castel Gandolfo is literally clinging on to the upper portion of the crater. The pope’s summer villa or Rocca di Papa is situated there. The spiral road descending to the lake is a sight worth seeing in your lifetime. While going up to exit from there we found the road closed. No worries, we found another tunnel to take us out of there. Then we went to another hilly town Marino. The interesting attribute of each town center is that there will always be a circle, from which the town expands with roads spreading in all directions. We were told that Rome is no exception but the circle is not that prominent as in the small town Marino.

We sadly proceeded towards Ciampino airport before the sunset. Time seems to be always the enemy to us in the end. But as a saying goes “We never shall have any more time we have, and we have always had, all the time there is.” We were glad that we could spend our time as traveler not mere tourist and experience the wonderful country. The warmth of people is noticeable by their attitude towards the foreigners. Most Italians do not have allergy to foreigners; they have blended multiculturalism in them. They love to not follow the rules but are humane and have hearts big as the ocean. That is why I will always cherish Italian food, Italian culture and the Italian people.

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