It is barely noon as we leave Fraschetta, with hours until our dinner with Jose and friends, we decide to take our time and drive around the lake before heading to Cerveteri for the Necropoli there.  Finding a short hike on AllTrails, we find the parking area (not where the app shows, but an actual lot where a few cars can park) and begin a nice little mile long hike through the San Celso woods on the shores of Lake Bracciano.  The forest reminds us of home as we navigate the loop up a little ridgeline and back down to the parking area for a lovely little nature hike.

Continuing our drive, we circumnavigate the entire lake, stopping here and there for photos of the water, long views across the lake back to the Castle and the little village of Anguillara rising up on a little peninsula jutting out into the lake.

Then we are back out onto the little country roads, passing the Castle of Bracciano on our way out of the village and back toward Civitavecchia to visit the Banditaccia Necropoli.

We have the place virtually to ourselves, there might be 5 other people here, spread out over the 25 acres of tombs that are open to the public.  The Necropoli della Banditaccia is the largest necropolis of the ancient world, used from the 8^th to the 2^nd century and believed to consist of over 20,000 tombs.  The area open to the public is only 1/10^th the total size.  Developed like a city, there are main streets and side streets, squares and tombs that are created as homes for their occupants. 

Even though just a teeny segment, the tombs that are available to view are a collection of the major types of burial tombs for Etruscans at that time.  Walking down one of the main streets, circular burial tombs surround us, covered in vibrant green grass – easily reminding me of Hobbit homes.

Each tomb we can enter is different.  The Tomb of Capitals – short corridors, small side rooms with burial chambers and columns….

The Tomb of Greek Vases – one of the most common types of tombs here, where hundreds of Greek vases, along with some imported from Egypt, were found when excavated…..

The Tomb of Reliefs – way down a steep metal staircase, with painted stucco reliefs all over the walls and the pillars….

Continuing to meander around the complex, we actually get a little lost climbing up onto the top of some tombs, then trying to weave our way out of complex without having to jump down a 5-foot embankment.  Which we manage to finally do, finding a set of stone steps that leads us back down to the main avenue.

An amazing complex.  There is so much here, we didn’t even get to all the tombs we could explore. But what we did see was absolutely fantastic.  Plus, as an added bonus, there is a historical exhibit in the visitor’s center that gives the history of Cerveteri, the most important Estruscan town between the 7^th and 4^th centuries BC, and how it was a center of Greek influence (thus, the Greek Vase Tomb).  Some of the best things here are the photos of the tombs as they were excavated, a map of the entire 250 acres site and the bird’s eye view of the small piece of the Necopoli we just visited. 

Tomb wandering done, we return down the narrow treelined Necropli entrance lane to Civitavecchia, drop our car and return to the ship with plenty of time to spare before our dinner with Jose.

A gorgeous sunset sends us on our way to the dining room, where we had an absolutely marvelously fun time with Jose and 2 other couples who he calls “his people.”  They were all a hoot – one joke or snide comment after another, so fun. We laughed all night.  A wonderful way to cap off a wonderful day of explorations.

The rest of the evening is spent on the balcony watching the almost full moon slip in and out of the clouds as we sail toward our next destination:  Livorno and our overnight stay in Lucca.