Wednesday, July 8, 2009

A rainy day and Monster Park




I believe this story must be told... so here I am to tell it. Italy is a funny country in a lot of ways. It is very romanticized to say the least. Italians love to talk... I mean LOVE to talk.... and it can get tiring when it is not your first language. Because of all of this talking, a lot of stuff doesn't get done as fast as you would hope. This goes for organizational issues as well. From the smallest groups to city planning, lots of things go unnoticed. This brings me to my story of how we finally made it to Monster Park.

The image above is the Colossus in Monster Park. Let's back up. The night before Monster Park we were searching for someplace to go for a day trip. My husband and I love to travel, we definitely have the travel bug, so we made a decision after returning to Italy that we would go to at least one new place every week. We wanted to go to the seaside, but it was supposed to rain all weekend. So, we decided to surf the internet until something interesting popped up. Then we saw it.... Monster Park or Sacro Bosco in Italian. This park was created in the 1500's by Vicino Orsini near the town of Bomarzo. Now we begin to research the logistics, how to get there, how far, etc. We looked at a lot of travel blogs and people all said stop at the Attigliano-Bomarzo train station and then the park is just a 500 meter walk from there. Sounds great!

The next day we wake up and get on the early train. We arrive about 3 hours later in the little town of Attigliano. We get off the train, go out in front of the station.... no signs. We ask, "Scusa, qual'รจ direzione per il Sacro Bosco?" "Oh no" she says (the rest I will put in english since most of you reading this speak english) "that is in Bomarzo.... that is 15 Km away uphill." "Is there a bus?" we ask. "No, no bus... that is a different region." See the buses don't run in between regions. We were in Umbria and Bomarzo is across the border in Lazio. "You must take a taxi" she says. OK. Great. So we call a taxi. He says he has to come from Viterbo and it will cost us 70 euros for roundtrip.... 15 Km.... HAHAHA! Jesse and I look at eachother... well I guess we will walk. 

2 hours later we are in Monster Park. It was amazing! All of the sculptures were made out of the stone on the land. It was forgotten about for hundreds of years and is now open again as a public park. There are sculptures like the Colossus, the Turtle, the Unicorn, the Dragon, the Orca, and the Ogre. They are amazing. Here is a link to my pictures my husband has posted on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=100527&id=606692652&l=903c99fd97

So here we are in Monster Park and we are loving it all. We visit the Medieval city of Bomarzo. Its small winding streets inside the fortress walls makes this town and jewel to be found and treasured. But we have to get back to the station. That is when it starts to rain. Finally, a car starts to pass us and stops, backs up, and a woman leans out the window and says, "Would you like a ride?" YAY! The two wonderful ladies were from Amsterdam and were here on vacation, they had seen us leaving the park on foot. They took us up the hill to Attigliano were we ate pizza and drank beer to warm up.

 Sibley Suggestions: 

I definitely suggest going to Monster Park. It is worth the trip. As for transportation, bring a bicycle on the train or go by car. Walking is not the best option. Important things to know: No dogs allowed. You are not supposed to take pictures, but the guards turn their heads. They will not take your picture, it is not allowed. Bring a good lock for your bike since you will not be able to take it into the park.

1 comment:

  1. Cool stuff! Are you actually going to blog regularly? I noticed that your last and only post was back in April... if you are going to blog Miss Dory then you must be a better blogger!

    Anywho, I'm glad y'all are having so much fun! Talk with you later!

    - Melissa

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