Bracciano

This past weekend a few friends and I decided to take a quick train ride to the little town called Bracciano. Bracciano is a small town about an hour train ride from Rome. It is best known for its volcanic lake, which is one of the largest lakes in Italy. The lake owes its origin to intense volcanic activity from 600,000 to 40,000 years before present.

The other main attraction is the well preserved castle, Castello Orsini-Odescalchi. It was built in the 15th century, and combines the functions of a military defense structure and a civilian residence of the feudal lords of the period, the Orsini and Borgia, both papal families. We took an hour tour of the beautiful castle. Afterwards we bought melanzana and pomodoro pizza(eggplant and tomato)and looked out at the lake. Simply put it was a perfect day trip!