Greetings! We are back to finish our tour of the Royal Palace in Caserta and will be visiting its gardens and fountains. I am walking through what is referred to as the "telescope" which leads to the gardens.
You can see the beautiful gardens just beyond the large archways. Let's go have a closer look.
Oh wow, this is just breathtaking, however, I hope my parents aren't expecting me to walk that path that looks like it goes forever. I heard my Dad say something about 2 miles long.
After just 10 minutes of walking, I had to turn and sit to take in the view of the palace from this distance. I also wanted to stall my parents until one of those carriages came by so I could flag it down and hitch a ride the rest of the way. After all, I'm only 4 years old and it's not very nice to make a small guy like me walk so long on such a warm day.
Yay! It worked. Now, this is how the little American prefers to take in the sights. See you later palace.
There are a series of six fountains which are all fed from an aqua duct that spills out of the Briano hillside you will see as we approach the end of the roadway.
As the water
falls down the hillside it disappears under grassy strips and reappears
in fountains and feeds ponds along the way. This plan for these amazing fountains and park was overseen by the principal architect Luigi Vanvitelli, however, his son Carlos oversaw the completion after Luigi's death.
This is the fountain of the Dolphins. The Dolphins were sculpted by Gaetano Salamone between 1776 and 1779 and feed a circular lake.
Uh oh, it looks like we are coming to a dead end.
Aeolus Fountain has carrera marble statutes created by various sculptors. The water continues under the grass to feed the fountain below.
These are the marble walls that flank the grassy area in front of the Aeolus Fountain.
Unfortunately, the carriages aren't permitted beyond this fountain so you have to travel on foot to see the remaining fountains.
The Fountain of Ceres was created between 1783 and 1785, also by Gaetano Salamone, out of carrera marble and travertine.
The Venus and Adonis fountain. The waterfall is 82 meters and was inaugurated in 1762.
The fountain Diana and Actaeon is the closest fountain to the cascade from the hillside.
A nice picture my Dad took of our carriage with the palace in the background.
This is the Castelluccia, a miniature 16th Century Fortress rebuilt in 1769 for the Court's pastimes.
I loved seeing the yucky mucky moat water just like in my little Einsteins movies.
The miniature fort has ramparts and a moat.
After the castle tour, we wandered into Caserta for lunch before taking the train back to Rome.
We had lunch here at Restaurant Soletti.
Papa couldn't believe how great the prices are in Caserta compared to Roma.
The prawns were a little to lifelike for my Dad. He didn't like seeing eyeballs staring back at him as he indulged.
Yay, finally we are back at the hotel and ready for a late afternoon swim. A tip for families traveling: If your focus is to get your kids excited about museums and ruins, don't show them a swimming pool.
All I want to do is swim! My parents promised we could swim late tonight since they held me hostage all day in Caserta. So, tonight I get to swim until the pool closes and then it's room service for dinner in my pajamas instead of an annoying jacket and tie.
Instead of the outdoor pool, I wanted to give the indoor pool and water spa try.
Boy was this a great idea! The water is the perfect temperature and I love all the beautiful lights above that make is seem as though I'm swimming under the stars. Thank you for following
