Anguillara September 2012

Anguillara. 

This is what started it all. It is the entire reason that I am in Italy right now, it is why I even considered that this could be a possibility.

This is where they filmed two episodes of my favorite TV show, "Everybody Loves Raymond". OK, one of my favorites but my very best favorite at the time. Anyway, they filmed 2 episodes here and in Rome.

 I watched these episodes for years not really knowing where in Italy they were filmed, just knowing that it was the most beautiful place I had ever seen.  When I saw it on TV, I felt peaceful and calm just looking at it but it never occurred to me that I would ever see it.  Those things happened to "other people" not to  people like me. 

 One day Lauren said she would like to take me on a trip for my 60th birthday and asked me where I would like to travel. At first I thought about Columbia because it looks very interesting and from what I saw on TV very unspoiled and beautiful but we decided that it might be too dangerous. 

 I also thought about Bali because it looked so beautiful  in one of my favorite movies, "Eat, Pray, Love" but after looking it up online it seems to be more of a tourist attraction than a spiritual spot to practice meditation.  

After thinking about it for awhile,  I finally told her about this place that I loved but didn't know where it was exactly, so she looked it up and found the name of  my dream -- Anguillara. 

So, that was the start of it. I will finish the story at another time.  For now

 here it is...My Anguillara.

We arrived by train from Rome.

                           It was a cloudy day, rainy and a little chilly.
   We took a tiny little bus and were told to get off downtown so we got off and walked up a hill and asked someone who told us exactly where our bed and breakfast was.  When we got there nobody was there and the lady in the shop next door told us to call them which Lauren did but they did not answer.  It was starting to look a little shaky but a young couple staying there finally let us in and we left our bags there and went exploring.  We came back and when Daniela and Antonio showed up they had been grocery shopping and did not expect us until later so it turned out fine. We settled into the blue room which faces the road. 

 The room had a queen size and a twin size bed and Lauren gave me the queen size bed. It had really cozy bedding on it and the people who ran it, Daniela and Antonio are the nicest people. 

Daniela is an artist and her handiwork can be seen on the walls as well as on actual canvases that she sells. There is a very famous painter who has a house here and he likes her work.  I don't remember his name but I saw his house.  He lives in Anguillara part of the year. 

The monkey was happy to be here.  He really wanted to come because Ray is his favorite show too.  He especially wanted to see the beautiful lake. Lauren is smiling because the monkey was acting crazy. He was dancing on the table but sat down really fast to get in the photo. He loves to have his picture taken. 

This is a cobblestone road that goes up the hill to the church. It is steep although it doesn't seem so in the photo. I took this from our window.  It had been raining most of the day so it was wet and cloudy. In the bottom right of the photo there is part of a grey door visible. It is actually a metal rolling door that comes down to close up the business for the night. These are seen all over Italy. They are convenient and safe for the businesses which are mostly very small. 

 This is where the scene of Raymond eating pizza from this little pizza place was shot. The pizza shop is not there anymore, actually the shop is vacant. In the same scene Ray played soccer with a couple of kids in the area in front of the pizza shop and women walked down the hill and talked to Ray. Yes, I know I am a freak for remembering the episodes so clearly. I have to say though that the parts they shot in Rome I don't remember as well. 

This is directly across from our room. To the right is a terrace where we ate dinner one night. Beneath the terrace is a cafe and to the right of that is another restaurant.

          Another view of the road. You can see the whole door this time.
        Old ladies go up and down this road all the time. It has hand rails on        the walls near the top. 

                                    Our first night in Anguillara.

 The storm is dissipating and you can just see the sun setting on the most perfect place.

                                            It is so beautiful.

                             I just could not believe we were there. 

               
               Lauren in front of the entrance to our wonderful little B & B Domus Angularia.

                          And me, so excited I could not stop smiling. I am in Anguillara at the very place I dreamed of seeing. 

This is the breakfast Daniela made for us each morning. We ate on the terrace surrounded by tomatoes, herbs and other plants growing in pots. She served us fruit, juice, wonderful coffee, heated milk for our coffee, the best bread I ever had, soft spreadable cheese, jam and assorted pastries. 

 I only wanted coffee the first morning but Lauren was enjoying her breakfast so much that I had to try it and she was so right. Everything was so good. The fruits and vegetables in Italy are so fresh and they have so much flavor that I find myself eating a lot more fruit than ever and the tomatoes are so flavorful that I eat them on bread with cheese and Italian salt that is so good. The monkey had breakfast in the room later, he didn't want to get up. 

The view from the terrace where we had breakfast.  If you get the green room, this is the view from your room. 

Antonio took us on a tour of the different places that they shot the episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond and also showed up other things of interest in the neighborhood.  He was so kind and treated us so well. 

Lauren and I by the church up the hill overlooking the amazing lake. The weather cleared up overnight and it was a beautiful day. Antonio took the photo for us. 

Romans occupied this space as they did in much of Italy and this is one of the columns that are left from that time. It became part of the building. 

 This isn't a resort town or a touristy place. This is just how they live here.

Cobblestones, narrow steep streets, gardens everywhere, friendly happy people.

 Italians come here to get away from the city; August is the month when many places close down and the cities empty out for the month because it is so hot. People take their vacations and go to a cooler place or at least somewhere with water.  When we were in Anguillara there were some people here but  it wasn't crowded at all. There aren't any people from the United States here. 

                                  Lauren and Antonio on our tour.

                           Beautiful plants and flowers everywhere.

The architecture is beautiful and everything is built into the hills, the hills weren't taken down for the buildings. 

The lake is crystal clear and clean. It is actually a reservoir for the people of Rome now although it is a caldera (which is a depression left after a volcano has blown). No motorized anything is allowed on the water except for the ferry boats that give the tours around the lake.  So there are no motor boats, no skiing, no jet skis or any other loud obnoxious things to disturb the beauty of this place. There are several lakes in the area including Lake Como on which  I believe George Clooney has a house . Apparently some famous people come to this area for the seclusion and of course the pristine beauty. There are several villas and castles in the area, we saw one castle across the lake. 

Antonio told us that a lot of the houses like the one here have grottos that are like basements and that sometimes they find old ancient bones or corpses most likely from the Roman times but nobody says anything because then the government would come and excavate so they just live with it. This particular house was huge and went up the hill probably 3 stories high. 
Part II next time.