Italian Letters of a Diplomat's Wife: January-May, 1880; February-April, 1904Waddington, Mary King
General
Italian Letters of a Diplomat's Wife: January-May, 1880; February-April, 1904
Waddington, Mary King
Rome (Italy) -- Social life and customs
Josephine and I went for a drive. It had rained all the morning, and was
grey and damp, but we didn't mind. We both of us love the Campagna in
all its varying aspects. We walked about for some time, but had
difficulty in choosing our ground, on account of the shepherds' dogs,
which are very fierce sometimes, and the troops of buffaloes. Josephine
had a disagreeable experience one day with the buffaloes. She was
walking on the Campagna with her small children and her Italian footman,
when suddenly a troop of these wild creatures charged down upon her at a
headlong pace. There was no refuge of any kind near; the footman,
frightened to death, promptly ran away. She was terrified, but didn't
lose her head. She stood quite still, the children clinging to her
skirts, and the herd divided, passing by on either side; but she might
have been trampled to death. Naturally she has given them a wide berth
since.
Friday, April 29th.
I will finish to-night dear, as we have come upstairs early after a long
day in the country. The trunks are all ready, some of them downstairs,
and we start early to-morrow morning. They say the confusion yesterday
at the station, when the President departed, was awful,
people--ladies--rushing about distractedly trying to find places, no
footmen allowed inside, not enough porters to carry the heavy
dressing-bags and rouleaux. Some people couldn't get any places, could
only start last night.
We had a pleasant day at Nemi. We went out by train. There were a good
many people, evidently starting for the regular round of Castelli
Romani, principally English and Americans, and principally women, very
few men, but large parties, six and seven, of women and girls. It is a
pretty road across the Campagna and up the steep hill to Albano, and as
our speed was not terrifying we had ample time to see everything. The
Ruspoli carriage was waiting for us, and we had a beautiful drive to
Nemi. It is really a lovely little place--the deep blue lake at the foot
of the hills, and all the country about us green. Our hosts were waiting
for us in one of the numerous salons, and we had time to go over the
castle a little before breakfast, which we had in a charming
old-fashioned room, with wonderful frescoes on the walls. They have
already done wonders in the old feudal castle, and I should think it
would be a charming summer residence, as no heat could penetrate these
thick walls. The view from the balcony was divine, over green slopes and
little woods to the lake.
We missed our train at Albano, so drove on to Castel Gandolfo and waited
there for the next one. We had goûter in a lovely little pergola
overlooking the lake of Albano, with the great papal villa opposite. It
is not very interesting as to architecture, a large square pile. No Pope
has lived there since Pio Nono. I believe some French nuns are settled
there now.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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