A DAY OF GOOD LUCK

Early this morning, it rained very hard, and Andrea wanted 30 more minutes of sleep at 8:00 a.m. At 8:30, she wanted to blow off the 10:00 am bus and go back to sleep, but the prospect of seeing Villa Farnesina and the Raphael fresco pulled her out of bed.

By the time we arrived in Roma Centro, the rain had stopped. We hopped on a city bus, which dropped us at Villa Farnesina on the west side of the Tiber.

Without all the glitz and extravagence of the Doria Pamphili and the other grand palazzos, this place seemed ultimately more elegant and livable. Augustino Chigi, a rich banker, commissioned the villa from Baldassare Peruzzi. It is considered one of the first truly Renaissance villas. It was later purchaed by Cardinal Farnese.

Andrea was dying to see the Triumph of Galatea by Rapahel, a truly magnificent piece that seems nearly as vibrant today as it may have 500 years ago. Andrea spent at least 15 minutes standing in front of it as she spoke with a couple from Connecticut expounding on Raphael's work.

But Raphael's fresco was not the only wondrous work, either in the Loggia of Galatea, or in the villa. the marble floors and the vaulted ceilings with their decorative lunettes and spandrels all were masterfully executed. Even the outside of the shutters were painted with different classical scenes. I took way too many photos, but here are some.

The Triumph of Galatea

Vault in Loggia of Galatea

Vault in Loggia of Galatea

Vault in Loggia of Cupid and Psyche

Vault in Loggia of Cupid and Psyche

Stairway to second floor

Putti looking down

Shutters

Villa Farnesina front entrance

Lemon trees in garden

The roses were fragrant

Back of the villa

After the villa and its garden, we walked around the surrounding neighborhood. We couldn't help but think it was a modest, working class area, but this is Rome, and the cobble stone streets, scrolled lamp posts hanging from buildings and the ability to see the sky... distinguish it from a similar socio-ecomomic neighborhood you might find the States.

The next museum we were to visit was closed, so we strolled through picturesque Trastavere, stopping for coffee. Without intending to, we inadvertently stepped inside a church on Trastavere square and were blown away by its beauty. It was Santa Maria in Trestavere!

Trastrevere cafe for coffee

Ceiling in chapel in Santa Maria

SM in Trastavere

The altar



There's a dead guy in there!

From there, we continued to meander through Trastavere, which turned out to be lucky, too, because Andrea had stated no interest in seeing it due to all the other things on our agenda, but she was glad we did. A few more photos...
We crossed over the Tiber Island (Isola Tiberina) and into the old Jewish ghetto area again. We visited the synagogue and Jewish museum, at which we both spent much more than time than we ever would have guessed. (No, Alexi, we did not spit on Titus' Arch. We forgot until you reminded us today.)

There are about 14,000 Jews in Rome. While from a Sephardic tradition, they practice a Judaism that is distinctly Italian: Services are totally in Hebrew and the women sit separately from the men (orthodox) regardless of the way people live their every day lives (conservative, reform...) While we thought security was lax upon our entrance, we were assured that after the fatal 1982 synagogue bombing, everything and everyone are under constant surveillance. Carabinieri are constantly stationed around the temple complex. No photos are allowed within the complex, thus no new photos today.

By this time, it was 4:30 pm, and we headed up to Piazza Navona for dinner. We stopped at various places along the way, but by the time we finally reached the piazza and found the restaurant recommended by David and Ann Wilkins, we realized that we had eaten there for lunch on our first day here!

So we grabbed a seat at Ai Tre Tartufi in front of the famous Fountain of the Four Rivers by my new favorite scultptor, Bernini, on the plaza.

Piazza Navona

Fountain of the Four Rivers by Bernini

Andrea's lasagne was mediocre at best, but I enjoyed my ravioli well enough, as well as the waiter and maitr d', who lived in the States and had a story for everyone, such as telling the college girls from Tennessee that Elvis is still living in Memphis!

Ai Tre Tartufi

We also met a young couple from Bridgeport, who turned out to be staying at our Marriott. We conversed at length with them on the bus ride back to the hotel. The woman works in catering at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare!

By the time we got back up to the room, an unexpectedly beautiful day weather-wise had suddenly changed, and it began to pour rain with tremendous lightning strikes lighting up the valley below us. (Now that is luck, mazel, we don't typically enjoy!)

Andrea did some of her laundry in the bath tub tonight (a la Russia.) I had told her the string in the bathrooms was for hanging clothes to dry. After trying to show her how it worked, stretching it across the bathroom to no avail, Andrea went down to the front desk only to learn that the string is an emergency alert in case someone were to fall in the shower! Good going, Will.

Tomorrow is day one of our Vatican visit, and Andrea has to wake up early so we can be on the 8:00 am bus. Wish us more luck!

PS: sorry for all the typos, lack of spacing and missed letters. I loathe tapping away on this iPad.