"I'd rather live in a cave with a view of a palace than live in a palace with a view of a cave."

— Karl Pilkington / Writer / The Ricky Gervais Show


I hope, for the sake of the folks living in Caprarola, Lazio, Italy, they share this sentiment because nobody lives in the palace at the top of the hill in their town, and the rest of Caprarola—well, it's not a cave, but it's seen better days.

Last night, we made a reservation at Il Due Galozzi (which translates to The Two Galoots) in the nearby town of Caprarola. Kelly joined and we left early to explore a bit. The town consists mainly of one long steep street leading to the Palazzo Farnese, a huge palace with an amazing sculptured garden behind it, with a sort of running stream/waterfall structure. We have seen this before, and knew it would be closed, so no pictures of it this year.

We parked at the bottom of the hill and worked our way up to the palace, taking side streets as we went—partly for a break from the steep trek, and partly to see something off the beaten path. Lots of people were out in their chairs or on the stoops in front of their houses. We don't know why we don't see that in Viterbo. Maybe because Viterbo's more of a city.

As is typical, a lot of the folks—both the men and the women—had pretty grouchy faces, but if you said, "Sera!" They'd light up and all say it back. You just need to break the ice. It's very rewarding. Case in point, in my last post of the guy with the big dog—the last photo on that blog post was the first one I took, surreptitiously, before getting up the nerve to ask for the photos. He had a particularly imposing countenance, but it was well worth it. He did insult me, however, when he said, "Do you speak English? Speak English. It is easier."  

Fred & Owen at the Palazzo.

The view from the top.

Another.

Us at the top. Photo credit to Kelly.

The descent from the Palazzo to the town is a study in grey. 
Including Fred & Owen.

If you imagine all these next scenes without the flowers,
it's a very different picture.

These women were down an alley with a little open area and when they saw me photographing, they beckoned me down to see their pretty garden—all green. No flowers. As I made my way down, a pigeon flew and they suddenly starting pointing and shouting at the wall across from them: "Ouvo! Ouvo! Ouvo!"

The pigeon had just left her hole in the wall and there, precariously on the edge of the hole, was this egg. They were like kids. So excited about the egg. 

The classic grumpy cat.

Orange.

I know I have no discipline when it comes to editing my photos but I just had to keep the two pizza images. We are very concerned The Two Galoots presents competition for our beloved Viterbo institution Il Monastero, home of the two-plate pizza. Mine was mozzarella and zucchini. I made myself eat only half because Fred mistakenly ordered four SEPARATE orders of bruschetta for an appetizer. Four slices of bread covered with tomatoes for each of us. THEN, pizza!

The best Italian restaurant experiences seem to end with limoncello.
We think it's homemade; it usually is.