Today began with the realization that this would be my very last day as part of my study program in Roma! Even though I get to come back with the fabulous Tibby soon enough, it still is bittersweet knowing I won't see these girls I've come to love so much for another month plus!
However, we had a pretty swell last day...
The morning began with Sabrina and I joining our AIFS study program staff member, Philippa, at the metro to then catch a bus to Hadrian's Villa in the town of Tivoli! (Denver Metro students should be familiar with this name!!). My roomie and I were kind of surprised it was only the two of us who wanted to join (it was an optional day trip), but in retrospect it was nice not having to bump around with a big group - especially since the bus ride was an hour long and there weren't many seats after we sat down that were left open....
Nonetheless, we made it safe and sound and only had to walk a little ways through part of town to reach the massive vacation complex of the Roman Emperor who ruled during the 2nd century.
Overall, for the ticket price, it wasn't quite as impressive as I had imagined, but it was still pretty cool to walk around and see all the ruins left from this get-away palace that eventually became a whole court (complete with theaters, libraries, baths, meeting rooms, dining halls, gymnasiums, pools, bed chambers, etc.) when Hadrian decided to rule from here rather than Rome towards the end of his career.
...remains of the greek theater...
...huge reconstructed pool with fishies and turtles!
...remains of the mosaic flooring...
...crazy!!
...some of the remaining paint that once decorated the inside walls of rooms that supposedly housed some military troops...
...another reconstructed pool!
...Sabrina's been feeling very lonely these past few weeks....
...croc!
...care for a dip?
...loved the hair!!
...view of Tivoli from the ruins!
...awesome cypress trees!
...model of what the place would've looked like in it's hey-day!
...they also had an indoor exhibition about this fellow - Antinoo/Antinous - who was the young Bithynian lover-boy of Hadrian who sacrificed himself for the good of Rome by tossing himself into the Nile and drowning. Evidently Hadrian was very much in love with the kid and had him deified (an honor reserved only for members of the Emperor's family). In other words, a cult was created to venerate him and thus, numerous statues and busts of the sensual, soft young man were left all over the villa - some even depicting him in the guise of an Egyptian god/pharaoh. It was very interesting to see all these images of Hadrian's boy-toy and to wonder at some of the mysteries behind this non-Roman youth who so captivated the Emperor....
Overall though, the Villa was a pretty neat site and we felt glad about going and not being lame like the others! However, we did get a little bit uneasy when Philippa left to get back to Rome early, telling us vaguely where to go to catch a bus back. We ended up having to get kicked off one bus we thought was going the right way and then try and deduce where another was going before we finally figured it out and got on the correct one!
Luckily too, despite our initial delays, we arrived back into the city way earlier than we had thought we would and subsequently had just enough time to go check out the Capitoline Museum - which everyone else had decided they wanted to see instead of the Villa. Who says we can't do both, huh, huh?!
And we were very happy we did!
Not only did we get to see some of the cool artwork in the museum itself, but we also got to go to a temporary exhibition called Lux In Arcana which had on display dozens of ancient and more recent documents that have been kept under lock and key (until now!) inside the secret library of the Pope! It was so cool! I attached a link that tells a bit more about what all they had, but some of the manuscripts and letters included a note from Marie Antoinette to the Pope, the document sent by the court of Henry VIII demanding an annulment for his marriage to Catherine, Galileo's confession to the Inquisition, a seating chart for the Sistine Chapel during conclave (when they choose a new pope), a letter from the Chinese Empress written on silk, tons of old books, and even a letter from Abraham Lincoln! It was AWESOME!!!!!
But as I said, that wasn't all....
We also got to see the original Capitoline She-Wolf (the emblem used throughout Siena and Rome depicting Romulus and Remus), the original Roman bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius on his horse, the famous statue of The Dying Gaul, the Capitoline Venus, some more paintings by Caravaggio, and so much more!
...view from inside the museum!
So basically we are over-achievers.
But boy are we glad we decided to go! It was totally worth the extra walking and sweating in today's nasty heat.
We were also fortunate to finish with just enough time to head home and freshen up before meeting the rest of our group outside the Pantheon to go to our final group dinner!!
It was a pretty delicious 3-course meal of pasta with pecorino cheese (of which I pretty much inhaled both my portion and another girl's....I was super hungry), then a dish of lemon turkey and rosemary/olive oil potatoes, and a dessert of tiramisu!! Us girls chatted and laughed and promised to meet up again in 45 min. to take one more stroll around the neighborhood before saying our last goodbyes!
So Sabrina and I rushed home to finish packing...and we kind of lost track of time...and we may or may not have run back through the crowded streets (like where did all these people come from? Friday night in Trastevere is HOPPING!)...until we, breathing hard and sweating profusely, realized we were the first ones to arrive at our meeting spot. Good guys!
But eventually everyone sauntered into view and we had a really nice time just hanging out and soaking up our last night all together!
And now I have about 2 hours until I need to get up and catch our taxi at 5:30 AM to head off to the airport! So nighty night all, and Athens here we come!!!!!
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