L-A: Future? Ojalá!

• Manja Maksimovič

I could also say magari in Italian, since ojalá means about the same in Spanish, namely I wish! This was my Sunday and I can only wish to have more such days in the future.

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First, we need a song. This one is called Futura by Lucio Dalla and it starts “Who knows, who knows on what we will put our hands tomorrow.”

Italy is a strange beast: full of jewels of different kinds, and yet masses flock to one of the ten places which I won’t name now. As if it only counts if you can flaunt a household name as your destination.

My wish for the future is to explore less known jewels. It’s easier with a friend and now I have one.

One day I shared with Flavia an article about the place that I had never heard mentioned before, and you know that I read a lot. She was equally impressed and this Sunday we went there.

We met in Canale Monterano, the village from the title of the article, where we had to show pictures from it in the bar because it didn’t seem nearly as deserted as they promise. We were directed to the nearby ruins of Monterano antica, parked early and strolled for an hour before we found the first ruins.

The walk was lovely but what we encountered there really blew my mind, especially the ruins of the Cloister of San Bonaventura with the fountain in front and the magnificent lion in the middle of the ruins, both designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. And all of this is free to visit.

If you just think of it: how many places like this exist around here and nobody is talking about them!

When we returned we had a lovely lunch in Canale Monterano’s less busy but maybe even better restaurant Il Rintocco della Campana. On return I took a different road than before and almost fell into a huge viaduct just before Tarquinia which I haven’t seen or heard mentioned before either.

It’s so easy to encounter new amazing things, one just needs to get out. Thank you, Flavia, for making it such fun. I really hope many more such outings are in our future.

  • Canale Monterano. I don’t know how anybody can ever be miserable in such a town.
  • A happy official building with a fountain.
  • We parked here and laughed at the horses. Just like in the article.
  • We met quite some bikers and hikers. One of these dogs jumped on me as if we were old friends. We left bestia at home with amore this time. He would do the same to this lady (the dog, not amore).
  • More life.
  • Hi there. Nice pasture.
  • A closed rose but some of its sisters were open yet.
  • More joy. Can you spot the little fellow?
  • Here it is. Somebody had plenty of fun making it.
  • Hey there! A glorious day today. Oh, a nice pattern!
  • Then you make a turn and find this… Ben-Hur was filmed around here, see if you remember any scene.
  • It used to be a fountain.
  • Under the aqueduct.
  • On the board biodiversity still included humans, but on the left it was decided to strike us through.
  • Dangling happily.
  • And then this view opened of the Cloister San Bonaventura and I just stared.
  • Around the corner this lion was looking down on me. Apparently the water used to run down here.
  • Next to the lion wall.
  • Doesn’t it look like a magic teapot?
  • Inside the cloister. Later I realised that I had it on my list of places to visit all along.
  • Looking up.
  • The view from the cloister.
  • The same view through the door hole with the Bernini fountain.
  • On return my feet were protesting slightly due to calcium deposits and Flavia got me this stick. I felt very Druidic. Photo: Flavia
  • Green door helped.
  • Pretty Celtic.
  • But what really restored me was this wonderful lunch at the restaurant Il Rintocco della Campana in Canale Monterano. These are involtini con peperonata. From Sicily, Flavia knows.
  • This is potato chips cacio e pepe, with black pepper and cheese. Just divine.
  • And this trio of semifreddi – pistachio, frutti di bosco and strawberry – rounded it all up perfectly.
  • Upon return I hadn’t driven even ten minutes when I just had to stop for this church in Montevirginio.
  • About an hour later it was almost dark but I turned the corner and gasped at this aqueduct of Tarqunia spreading in all directions. So many more things to see.

For Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, hosted by Leya of To See A World in a Grain of Sand…: Future

34 thoughts on “L-A: Future? Ojalá!”

    1. Thank you, Draco, it was an amazing day. Well, these chips were nothing like the ones you can buy in the supermarket. But I have seen it done: they open a bag of chips in the middle of lunch (at home) and just serve it in a crystal bowl.

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  9. “My wish for the future is to explore less known jewels.” And wow, Italy seems full of them – this is a real gem, Manja. What a day out you had, and I absolutely loved the cloister and the aqueduct! The image with the lion proudly standing there, and the marks of where the water once came down – beautiful. And for free. And no masses of people around. It could not be better! And then the rewarding food…those chips! And all of it – makes my mouth watering…
    You are looking forward to a rewarding and exploratory future! I also agree it is even better in the company of a friend.

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    1. Thanks, SMSW, we sure did! It was funny because the first restaurant we saw was very busy and the woman said we had to wait, maybe an hour. So we strolled some more and found this other restaurant and a tiny free table that was just right for us. In front of the first restaurant a line of waiting people formed, we saw later. We were lucky. 🙂

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  13. It’s great when you find a kindred spirit, isn’t it? And it can happen quite easily here in our blog world. 🙂 🙂 I like to do the same kind of thing here in Portugal too. So much beauty just waiting to be uncovered.

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  16. While I did see and admire some of the places that are in the standard lists when I visited Italy long ago, I also have fond memories of little-known sights off the tourist trails and of interactions with people who just lived there (and did not speak my language).  Thanks for the great photo-essay.

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