Day 3 Rome to Vieste Trivoli & Gargano Peninsula
The Tiber River
It was time to roll on from a super Rome visit. We won't say goodbye because we hope we'll be back. It was on the banks of the Tiger River in Rome where people came together long ago to work together in a simple place with no fancy buildings, to help each other, to help those in need, to build a community, to crate an idea of a government; and one in which the common people actually had a voice in the choices that the leaders made. During our visit the physical remains overpowered our senses, the medieval art, the ancient sculptures, the mammoth ancient standing structures and the organizational city plans. Wondering, smelling, hearing and seeing the neighborhoods of the Trastevere, ancient Rome, Sunday on Via Del Corso, the Villa Borghese Gardens, viewing the overpowering museums at Borghese, Vatican, The Forum, Capitoline Hill, walking with and watching the locals and experiencing the food in the Trastevere family restaurants.
Decades of disuse, pilfering, earthquakes, wind and erosion have dimmed the grandure for this Villa. Most of the antiquities that were recovered now rest in museums elsewhere. There are more Villa structures to be discovered below the soil when archeological resources are acquired.
This was our first view of the Adriatic Sea. We're in Puglia, Italy's "heel" and the ancient crossroads of many former civilizations. It's an area with a strong Greek influence. The Gargano Peninsula has a National Park with a primeval forest. The peninsula's sandy beaches, clear seas and sculpted limestone cliffs are spectacular sights. Poverty has long held a strangle hold on most of southern Italy. The Italians living here deserve great credit for hanging on and working there way through everything that happened in their lives during and following the massive pounding from WW II. Perhaps we will make a tiny contribution to the local economy during our visit.