Today we are in-transit passengers. No packing, no bag collection, no new key cards, no nothing! Just stickers that say “Still on vacation” (no, we DID NOT put those on!) and we are off the ship with our backpacks by 7:15. We have a car with vague plans to go to the Etruscan Necropolis in Tarquinia. But that’s about it.
So, off we go, into the brutal wind. It is just as cold, if not colder than yesterday. Wicked still. We catch the shuttle, which leaves pretty quickly, then tilt at the wind all the way to the Hertz office by the train station (it’s our morning exercise instead of the gym). The office is open early (thank you Hertz guys!!!) so we are inside before 8am – and out the door by 8:05 really. In addition to getting the car, the Hertz guy suggests we also visit Tuscania if we have the chance. Ok – we’re game – we’ve got nothing planned until 4:30 all aboard.
We plug in Alice and she doesn’t let us down as we head toward Tarquinia. We’ve got no information on the site, just that it is is Etruscan, allegedly amazing, and our friend Judy (from our first European cruise oh so long ago) went there when we were here, while Ed, Stu (her traveling companion) and I all went to Rome. It turns out to be a very easy drive, and we are there at 8:30 (fast!). And perfect timing too! They open at 8:30. So no long wait in the car. All Italian here – very little English, but we’re ok – we know numbers – dodice (12 E for entrance) and the lady gives us a laminated map for us to use as we wander around the sites. She also tells us not to – or to – go down into the tombs. hmmmm…..
Outside – OMG – it is beyond blustery. Freaking freezing gale force wind is what it is – and this entire place it comprised of tombs spaced out along these little gravel paths. Inside the tombs are great (she said to GO down inside them), but outside…that’s another story. There are about 20 tombs scattered about, the map below shows where they are located – but doesn’t really give you the scope of how big this area is (and it’s too darn cold to take pictures in the wind – it might take the phone away in a gust!).
This place turns out to be amazing. Probably the best thing we’ve done on the spur of the moment. The tombs are large burial chambers for the wealthy and royals – they were topped by mounds of earth and had large open entrances with staircases, called a piazzaletto. There are over 6000 tombs, 1000 of which have been unearthed, and only 20 that are accessible to the public. And oh wow – those 20! Even with the wicked wind – we spend a long time here going from tomb to tomb, just amazed at the artwork, the colors and the sheer artistry from the 5th Century BC.
The detail is amazing. And it’s everywhere – the people they depicted, the animals, the steps down to the corpse or the benches along the sides of the wall for mourners to sit. It’s amazing down in these tombs.
Simply amazing – every tomb we go into, we are more amazed. The artistry, the colors, the detail. This is an incredible find!
We finally finish all the tombs. Wow! We are just stunned. Incredible. Now we have to study up on the Estruscans! We snap one last picture outside of what we are calling mushrooms, and what we assume are the coverings of the tombs, but we don’t know – it just makes a good photo.
We return our map – and the lady in the ticket office remarks on how cold it is – I look at myself in the mirror in the bathroom – yeah – it’s cold, my nose is so red and my face…well…it’s cold!
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