Let's face it. Working from home has all of it's pluses, but every once in a while you have to get out!  Actually, more than every once in a while, more like daily, is ideal.  Anyone who has ever worked from a home office knows what I mean; more than X amount of hours in front of the computer/sewing machine/etc and your productivity level goes down very quickly.  This entry shares a little bit about my playground, my brainstorming zone, my nap time spot, my place of escape.  And, when you really need some fresh air is there really any better place to go than an old villa once known to Romans as Bel Respiro?  I think not.

I have the great fortune of living next to the largest public park in Rome: Villa Doria Pamphili.  Villa Pamphili is the old property of the Papal Pamphili family as well as the inherited property of the royal Doria family.  If you look at an aerial view of Rome you will see two huge splotches of green interrupting the urban layout- one is the also famous Villa Borghese and the other one is my backyard...

It is a well known fact that exercise does 'ya good.  It's also a well known fact (here in Rome at least) that if you want to get away from the city and go jogging, Villa Pamphili is one of the best places to go.  But, as I only really like running on poorly groomed trails in thick forests with the possibility of running into large, dangerous wildlife (you can take the girl out of Alaska, but you can't take...)- let's just say that I don't come to Villa Pamphili to jog.

I'm more likely to be found plopped down under a tree, face to the sun, thinking up a storm, possibly with my iPod in hand.  I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world for several reasons and one definitely has to do with this place.  I can't think of a better way to "get out of the house", revive creativity, pass the siesta hour, get a tan and dream up new "impossible" plans than basking in the front lawn of one of the most powerful families that made Rome.  

Plus, the statues are big Storia fans.