Month: July 2009

I was at my in law’s place when I noticed a Geography book on the table. Flipping it open, I saw various maps and was trying to spot Capri – A place where Cart and I visited some years ago.

Somewhere in the corner, my eyes were drawn to a large lake on the left which was not too far away from Rome.

View Larger Map

As the trip to Capri took us about 5 hours, I asked Cart how long it would take to go to Lake Bracciano. Somewhere along the conversation, Cart actually suggest that we would go there!

Hence, last Monday, being a holiday in Rome due to the Patrons Santi Pietro e Paolo, Cart and I went to lake Bracciano.

It took us about less than an hour to reach there by car. Already I was amazed to see this charming view in front of me.

Cart told me me that that was a common sight. In every region in Italy, the highest peak usually has a castle on it and villages surrounding it.

We took a short walk towards the castle. The housing area looked quite lovely with the slopes making the staircases look uneven. I quite like the old look and feel of the area.

We stopped by this small family run restaurant to have a quick lunch where I had a nice plate of Pasta alla Pescatora which was made of various type of seafood in tomato sauce.

Cart on the other hand had Pasta with truffles and after our lunch, we headed to Castle Odeschalchi which was just a few minutes away by foot. The gates were closed and we realised that we needed to have a ticket to have a guided tour inside the castle.

It was such a beautiful place and it was easy to imagine the kings and queens walking up and down this path. The view of the lake was just breathtaking and postcard perfect.

It was interesting going through the castle, completely immersed in the feeling of the medieval vibe of the place. I liked looking at the furnitures on display that were actually used during those times.

Unfortunately, guests were not allowed to take pictures inside the castle, so I am unable to share it on this blog. Nevertheless, the guide was retelling about the history of the castle, and there was one that was extremely memorable to me.

She showed us a bedroom where the daughter of the Duke, Lady Isabella slept. It was said that she had many lovers. And after a night of passion, she would lead them to a room nearby and then push him down a well, full of spikes and blades.

And before we knew it, we were lead out of the castle and the door was promptly shut. While I enjoyed the tour, I wish it wasn’t so rushed.

Cart and I went back to the car and headed to the lake next, which was just a few minutes drive away. If it looked quite lovely in the map, it looks even lovelier to be seen in real life.

There were a number of people suntanning and taking a dip in the water. A number were boating and playing with water rides. It kind of reminded me when I was a kid when I lived in Jurong. Lakeside, and was always full of water rides.

Its so peaceful. Even with the fairly large amount of people there, it was very tranquil just to have the wind in my face and looking at the smooth waves on the water, which by the way, is interestingly clear!

I hugged Cartcart since Braccia means hug in Italian and as a sidenote, this is a nice site to make Abbracci cookies.

After the walk along the promenade, Cart and I decided to stop by for a gelato and that was when I spotted this :

I didn’t know that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes got married here. In fact, I didn’t even know that I was in the same castle where they got married. I wonder why the guide didn’t mention this to us.