Why is this beautiful castle in the town of Bracciano (a 40 minute train ride from Viterbo) famous to Americans? It's where Tom and Katie got married. Yes, THAT Tom and Katie. Suri's Mom and Dad. The 15th century castle is built high of a ridge that overlooks Lago Bracciano, the largest lake in central Italy.
Lago Bracciano, placid.
The light kept changing in the afternoon.
Evan P. of Massachusetts and Ben U. of Oklahoma doing the Italian thing. Going to the market, buying mozzarella, tomatoes, bread and jam and turning into a picnic.
Bracciano's claim to fame, the Castello Odescalchi
Here is the entrance to the Castello, the red ivy was stunning.
As we entered, we saw that there was a wedding to be held that night. The fact that ANYONE who has the cash can hold their wedding at this castello makes the TomKat wedding lose a little luster. It's not like they were THAT special to get a castello to hold just THEIR wedding.
This bed was where King Umberto I came to stay during the "malaria" epidemic in the 1500's. The rooms all along the first floor were set up with wedding banquet tables. All the student and I agreed that the lucite plastic chairs (sorry didn't get the picture) were tacky.
Isabella's Room. One of the royal women who lived here would bring her one night stands to this room and then send them out down a well, supposedly to their deaths. Nice!
So, the tour led upstairs (tour entirely in Italian by the way) to the weapons room and the science room, but what do we come across, the dresses of a famous Italian designer of the 1980's. Umm, what? Not what we came for.
I came to see cannons and gallows and cool stuff, not this. The students and I started just to make fun of it. I mean, LOOK at those things. Hilarious.
Good sports Nicole S. of Pennsylvania, Morgan B. of Connecticut and Jessica F. of California here on the top of the castle.
Sunset over Lago Bracciano
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