Tivoli (the City outside Rome not the Apartment Complex in Gainesville or Orlando)

My family and I decided to go to the local commune of Rome called Tivoli. Tivoli (the namesake of a popular apartment complex in Gainesville and Orlando) is a small city about 20 km outside of Rome known for its Villas. We visited the Villa D'Este which is known for its multitude of fountains. The fountain in which my whole family is standing in front of is called the Fountain of Neptune (constructed by Bernini in 1661). My other favorite was this set of fountains called the Hundred Fountains which is a long line of fountains that connects two larger fountains on the end.


My dad and I had a field day with all the naked people fountains. Italians like their naked sculptures. Unfortunately, I realized when we got to Tivoli I forgot my memory card for my digital SLR so our pictures were limited to a digital point and shoot camera (which I can't stand anymore).



One highlight of the trip is how we discovered how much guide books like Frommer's suck. In Frommer's it told us to go to one metro station to catch the bus to Tivoli, but in fact the metro station that you have to stop at is the one before the one Frommer's said (luckily I knew that beforehand!). Frommer's also doesn't tell you where to stop once you are on the bus to Tivoli cause if you stay on the bus till it stops it goes about 2 km too far. Frommer's is now on my crap list, just like Mapquest.

We also experienced how confusing Roman public transport could be. For example, when the bus for us to go home to Rome was full we took the next bus that also said to Rome but by a different route. That route somehow goes one direction first and then turns around and backtracks the same direction (huh?). So there was one point where we saw a sign that said Poli one direction and Roma the other. The bus went in the direction of Poli. I've ended up on the wrong side of Rome once already so I didn't want that to happen again. My sister said I looked like I crapped in my pants. Anyhow, we somehow passed the same sign for Poli/Roma and this time went in the direction of Roma. Wheew.