Italy Day Four, Part Two, Villa Torlonia

Villa Torlonia was beautiful, as were all the other villas. The actual villa is not as close to the garden and water features as the other villas, probably because over time the use has been changed. The grounds seem to be more easily accessible to the public than some of the villas and gardens. It was also kind of depressing at first glance as none of the water features were on, but later on in the visit, they started. Two of our male group members slipped away at the top terrace, and when they came back, the fountains came on. We asked them what they did, and they said they peed on a tree. We think that it was the trick, but either way, we got a laugh out of it.









I liked these trees. They were opposite the entrance of the first staircase entering the garden.


One of the ramps heading up to the villa from the bottom terrace. There was another one on the other side, with stairs leading up the middle.

The main part of the gardens. I loved how these trees lined the drive and forced you to view this second staircase. In the center of the staircase is a fountain that runs from the top terrace fountain to the second terrace level.

A close up of more fountains. These were not going much, but we were used to using our imaginations by this time.

A view looking down from the upper terrace. Loved the moss on the fountain.

A better close up of the fountains between the two terrace levels. There was a cave under each of the 4 levels.

The fountains at the bottom while they were working. No imagination required.

A view from the side. It was so great to see it all!

Like many of you, I love to read blogs and catch up on everyone's lives. However, as the list of blogger friends and family increases, I have been spending way too much time checking each blog to see if there is a new post. So for those of you who don't know, here is a way to subscribe to blogs so you can get alerts when something new is posted. It has saved me TONS of time!

You can either make www.google.com your homepage or if you have a gmail account already, log into your email account. If you are setting your homepage to google.com, you will either see a huge list that says "start by selecting some of our most popular content" or a tab on the right that says "add stuff." Click on this and type in the search field for "google reader." If you have a gmail account, log in, and then at the top click on the "more" tab. Choose google reader, and it is here that you can add peoples' blogs and other websites you check frequently. Click on "add subscription" and add your fav's one at a time. When you log in next time, it will let you know what is new and on who's blog! The first time, you will have to select each blog and then hit the button at the top that says "mark all as read" so that it will work correctly.

I hope this made sense to everyone, and that you find it as helpful as I have! I believe that if you don't have a gmail account, you can still use google reader, you will just have to create an account. Since you all have blogs which are google run, then you might not have to create an account either, I don't know for sure.

School at the Beach

I know that this was done a long time ago, but I thought you should all know the kinds of things I will potentially be involved in the rest of my life. For a senior class, we participated in National PARK(ing) Day. The purpose is to encourage people to walk more and drive less, therefore lessening the number of cars we need. When people realize they don't need their car everywhere, more open space is created and available for all to enjoy. Click here for the link to see what we did! There were four groups, so click on one of the titles at the top, and it will take you to specific images regarding the designs for that space. I was at the beach all morning, even though I am not in all the pictures. It sure was fun, and we got tons of odd looks.