This was another series about tourism and natural sites, and it inspired a trip across Italy to visit the sites of grottoes ranging from the 2nd century to the mid-17th century (funded by the Anne Harnett Endowed Scholarship in Design at Wayne State University). I was interested in the grotto as an architectural convention inspired by natural sites, one that was employed in stunning displays of wealth and power throughout the Italian Renaissance. The ownership and control over water at a vast scale was necessary for the operation of these sites, where whole rivers were diverted to create pleasure gardens for the elite. In contrast to those good old days, the gardens at Villa D’Este in Tivoli, a world famous site of fountains and grottoes, are now full of areas that are closed due to ongoing maintenance, and not all of its water features are active. Like waterfalls, grottoes were once sacred sites where offerings could be left to honor the nature spirits who watched over a perticular place and kept the balance. I was interested in tracing the travjectory of these sites from places of reverence to symbols of elite status, and I wondered if they had anything to show me about our own prominent displayes of power over nature in late-stage capitalism.