Dan and I finally journeyed to Italy to visit his sister, Kelsey, and her husband, Fabio. Fabio is from the scenic castle-by-the-lake town of Bracciano. Together they opened a beer bar/restaurant, Birreria dar Toro Seduto, which if you happen to travel to that area, you MUST stop by (and say you’re a friend/client/friend :)). Their food is a legit high-brow meets Italian take on pub fair and was honestly my favorite amidst many good meals and apertifs..
Anyway, I digress. Below I am posting the many photos I took (on Pentax 645 and iPhone) along with a brief timeline and a few notes. Enjoy !
Day 1
We were picked up at the Rome airport by Kelsey, Fabio and his dad, Renzo and whisked off to their home which lies on the outskirts Bracciano. A lovely al fresco lunch had been prepared, and this perfect, lazy afternoon/golden hour may have been my favorite part of the entire trip.
We then head into the city center to our lovely Air BnB:
And of course, a little wandering (filled with the sounds I always associate with Italy – diesel engines driving over cobblestones, pigeons flapping, church bells.. legit every time I visit these sounds are there!) and more photos as the sun set over the lake..
Day 2:
The whole team traveled up to Civita di Bagnoregio – a “ghost” city of sorts set up on a hillside that is slowly eroding into the valley surrounding it. A pretty gorgeous site, and popular with Italian tourists. I think my favorite part of this trip was people watching!
Side note – so much smoking in Italy! Makes for great photos.. 
(obviously related, right??)
Day 3:
Kelsey and Fabio brought Dan and I to Rome (an hour 1/2 train ride). I didn’t feel like lugging my big camera around for this trip, but still managed some fun little slices of the cafes and sights from our wanderings.
Day 4:
We hadn’t actually spent much time in the city we were staying in! Oh and we were just a tad hungover this day.. so anyway we finally visited the castle (Castello Odescalchi di Bracciano). This proved to be also a major highlight of our entire trip. I love museums where you get to go inside a historic home or castle or estate or villa.. etc. This is the place that Tom Cruise and Katy Holmes married at and I could see why they chose it – pretty breathtaking (although more sturdy and masculine than the fairy tale castles you think of).
Closing with a final photo from a morning walk before flying out on day 5. Ciao, Bracciano!