Lazio

It’s odd  how few travellers make their way into Lazio, the roughly-central region of Italy (close to the kneecap, if you remember your “Italy kicked Sicily” mnemonic ), of which Rome is the capital. People are perhaps too intent on reaching Florence, or Siena, or the hill towns of Tuscany and Umbria.

Anywhere from 45 mins to an hour and half around Rome are some fascinating places to visit, including the ancient necropoli and ampitheatres of the estruscans, the fortified hill towns of the romans, and the mediaeval churches and basilicas of the 12^th and 13^th centuries.  There are inland lakes, papal palaces, stunning open countryside and of course, fantastic food and wine.

My landlady Sari has an apartment at Lake Bolsena,  one of the largest inland volcanic lakes in Italy.  She regularly travels up to Bolsena for some respite from Rome, and this Friday we both headed off, firstly to see the ancient Etruscan city of Tuscania and then on to spend a couple of days relaxing at Bolsena.  It was surprisingly easy to get out of Rome (we left around midday on Friday) and after driving past the old Olympic Stadium north of the Vatican, we took the Cassia, the old Roman road, to Tuscania.

High on a windswept hill is the Basilica of San Pietro, which stands on Etruscan ruins dating to a temple of the 6^th century BC.  The facade of the church overlooks a grassy area between the bishop’s Palace and the powerful defense towers.  Standing in the square of the basilica, you can look towards the (later) fortified town ofTuscania.  The interior of the church is austere; most of the frescoes have been lost, although the ceiling soars way above your head, and the intricate rose window and marble floors are lovely.  Steps lead down to the crypt, with a maze of vaulted arches.  It’s like standing in a forest of stone columns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bolsena feels immediately like a place to relax.  The central piazza is open and light, and the corso, the main street, runs left and right to smaller piazzas with fountains and cafes.  The old town of weathered stone looms up over the piazza, and you can see the fortifications of the Castello Rocca, some hundreds of steps up above the town.  And everywhere are views of the lake.  Arriving at night, we see the lights of the towns around the lake – Marta, Capodimonte and Sant’Antonio. 

 

Sari has arranged dinner with some friends just outside Orvieto, in a restaurant set on a country road, and the conversation  is totally in Italian.  After four enjoyable hours, my brain is spinning, although everyone tries good-naturedly to speak slowly (impossible for Italians!).  There is masses of food, all for a set price of 20 euros each, and this includes – if you can manage it – crostini, prosciutto, salame as a starter, then two pastas (wild boar sauce, and the other rabbit sauce), then grilled meats from the enormous fireplace in the restaurant, and THEN desserts, vin santo wine, biscotti and coffee.  It’s an incredible amount of food, and there only seems to be one chef, a big man with an even bigger enthusiasm, exhorting everyone to eat up and enjoy the food.

Sunday we get up late, I head up to the Castello while Sari catches up with her work (she writes for a Rome newspaper) - I'm particularly taken with a terracotta putti in the museum of antiquities.

 

Later we drive around the lake, stopping for a lunch of river fish with fennel and some dry local sparkling wine (of which I also now have a bottle in my apartment fridge).  We linger so long that the lake changes from blue to pinks and greys, the sky begins to darken and the two central islands are enveloped in mist.