'Of all glorious things here I think a ride on the Campagna in the morning or the evening is the most beautiful. There one has Rome and Italy, the past and the present, all to oneself. There the old poetic mountains breathe inspiration around. There one sees the aqueducts in their grandeur and beauty, and the ruins stand out on the landscape without being wedged in by a dozen dirty houses, or guarded by a chorus of filthy beggars. The whole country lies open, unfenced and uncultivated, and as one rides from hill to hill, the scene changes with the ground and St. Peter's or the Lateran, an aqueduct or a tomb, Mount Albano and Frascati or Soracte and Tivoli almost bewilder one with their different charm. The Campagna is now green and fresh, the flowers are blooming on it and the poppies are redder than blood: the little lizards fly about with their green backs that glitter in the sun, and when one is glowing with the heat after a quick gallop, there's always a pleasant breeze to comfort one. This is the Rome that delights me, and in all Europe as yet I've seen nothing so beautiful and so pleasant.'
from a letter by Henry Adams, 1860
