NO PLANS

We had no plans for Saturday. We slept late. When we finally got ourselves moving, we grabbed the maps and the Blue Guide. First stop was the bar in the park for caffe' macchiato under the umbrella pines. With no particular destination in mind, we followed the local road out of town. The hills was green and shady, curvy and quiet. The landscape were covered in wildflowers. Sheep grazed in the fields. There were few other cars on the road to disturb the stillness. The sun was shining, the air was warm. It was a perfect morning.

Thirty minutes later we arrived at the foot of the Palazzo Farnese in Caprarola. The palazzo belonged to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (nephew of Pope Paul III) in the late 1500's. It dominates the little town of Caprarola. The palazzo is pentagonal in shape and is said to have beautiful public rooms with frescoed walls and ceilings, magnificent gardens and a grotto. Monumental steps, ramps and terraces lead to the main entrance. From this vantage point, we gazed out over the rooftops of Caprarola, and beyond to Monte Suratte. We will have the guided tour when our cousin visits in August.

We wandered around the main entrance and gazed up at it's arched and frescoed ceiling until lunch time. Caprarola sits along Lago di Vico, a little volcanic lake that is mostly surrounded by nature preserves. Little restaurants specializing in lake fish are scattered along the lakefront. We had a leisurely lakeside lunch of roasted corregone and a nice, light Sardinian white wine.

The late afternoon light was beautiful along the mountain road as we drove home. As we approached Soriano, that same light lit up the west side of Soriano's silhouette. Saturday was pure bliss.