Chapter 4 - Rome, the final day, on our own

Play Day in Rome

This was our day to wander on our own so we spent most of the day walking and visiting places we had identified as possibly being interesting. No hills made it a bit easier.

Our first stop turned out to be a true highlight of our whole trip - Villa Farnesina - a Renaissance villa just across the River Tiber in the Trastevere District. 

From the outside,it is certainly pretty.

With nice gardens...

But the inside blows you away. It is full of amazing decor and artwork, including frescos by Raphael. Our camera worked overtime. The rooms leave you breathless...

The "angels" are in the details looking every which way...straight up,

in the corners,

along the edges of the designs,

near the windows,

or even just a single angel...

or a single design panel.

Even a fireplace grate.

If all that wasn't enough, there were the painted wall panels looking like gentle watercolors.

Not at all least is the stunning use of all kinds of marble on walls

and floors.

The simplest thing, a door, became eye candy of wood, color and marble.

Still amazed, we meandered into the neighbor hood (got lost in the little streets). Along the way, we noted another way Romans (singular) find space to park.

Unlike 40 years before, when the streets were full of little buzzing Vespas, now there are multitudes of larger bikes, often stacked up as far as the eye can see.

On our way to lunch we found a wonderful local farmers market - the "real Rome"? The fruits and vegetables were picture perfect with the fragrances to match.

And there was more...meat, cheese, pasta and fish.

There we were in the middle of Rome watching the fishmonger expertly doing a fillet!

It was all about the neighborhood. There was a playground and street musicians nearby.

Walking around Rome is fascinating—regular 18^th-19^th century buildings on top of ancient ruins. The ancient city still lives within the skin of a more modern city. Of course none of the buildings appears to be 20^th or 21^st century and nothing is taller than 5-6 stories—a very human scale.

You are never far from the classic heritage. You walk past a doorway and peek inside.

You walk down street and see new excavations of ruins.

And, of course, ever present reminders that this is a place for tourists :)

We had left two famous sights to do on our own this day. First was the Pantheon, a truly amazing site—one large circular basilica covered with frescos and marble. 

It spite of being filled with people, it was peaceful and oh so beautiful. While the space is justly famous, the decorations spin your head, as well.

This little lamb seemed to be posing and asking to have its picture taken.

Our next stop, equally famous, had the opposite atmosphere - mad crowds of tourists jostling and trying to take selfies - the Tivoli Fountain. You cut a deal - I'll take one of you; you take one of us.

After walking most of the day, we returned to the hotel to relax before dinner. Of course, we had to stop for our daily gelato fix. Today Elaine had strawberry and chocolate, while Lester had coffee and pistachio.

Dinner was a wonderful way to close our Rome visit at a more traditional Roman restaurant, L’Asine d”Oro. We started with a silky asparagus pudding...

then spaghetti in a light artichoke and orange sauce.  

The mains were a delicious veal liver with sweet onions and fennel for Elaine and lamb meatballs for Lester. As we ate local, so did we drink local. We had a fruity but balanced Petit Vedot from Lazio, the local Rome wine area. It matched the food wonderfully.

Although we said we were not going to have dessert. of course we changed our minds when offered an incredible light homemade tiramisu  A very full day (in every way!) for our last day in Rome - complete with perfect blue skies. Tomorrow it is on to the Amalfi Coast!