Whew, the Italian sun was a-blazin’ today, but we poured liters of water down our throats and soldiered on like true explorers. GO, SAINTS!

After breakfast, we hopped on a bus with Marco, the driver, and drove off for Tivoli and Hadrian’s Villa.

From Magister Jefferson: Hadrian’s Villa lies next to the ancient Roman town of Tibur, now Tivoli. The estate is an expansive complex built by the Emperor Hadrian as an getaway and administrative center. (He even made the senators schlep all the way out to the place for meetings. Read: unhappy senators!) Hadrian saw himself as a renaissance man, a master of many talents, like architect, and he designed many aspects of the villa (as well as the Temple of Venus and Roma that some of us viewed from the Coliseum two days ago). The vast complex includes lodging for the people he enslaved & probably also family, friends, and secretaries.

The villa functioned like a little town: included a bath facility, a library, an expansive dining hall, forests, a theater, temple to his dear departed boyfriend, Antinoos, and a library.

We walked around the Canopus, which is a long pool with iconography that represented Roman occupation of/dominion over the Mediterranean world – caryatids (Greek-style pillars in the shape of women), crocodile fountain (Egypt), and Mars (Rome). The end featured a dining area in a triclinium shaped like a “pumpkin dome,” because of the octagonal panels. Carp swim there today and seemed to long to be near us as we approached. Someone’s been feeding these smart little swimmers!

Next we walked through the Hall of the Seven Philosophers. A library/lecture hall (who knows?!) that featured statues of seven Greek philosophers displayed in an apse. (We supplied our own philosophers today!)

Then we walked around the so-called “maritime theater,” which wasn’t really a theater, but more like a getaway inside his getaway surrounded by a moat. Strange! But we got a group shot there anyway.

Then? Lunch in Tivoli overlooking a great, rolling plain that reaches Rome in the distance. (The dome of St. Peter’s Basilica poked up along the horizon.)

After more pizza and gelato, we streamed into the Villa d’Este, a UNESCO World Heritage site filled with art-covered ceilings and walls and an expansive, fountain-filled garden on several levels. Spectacular! And the villa sits along the side of a hill offering sublime views of said rolling, green plains with rivers that flow toward Rome and the Tiber. The fountains were especially appreciated because of the spray of cool water and the subsequent cool breezes that followed. Oh. So. Nice.

And we finally captured our entire group on film. [See pix!] Plus, our in-country guides, Megan and Belle, composed a whacky and wonderful keepsake of themselves for us. THANK YOU, MEGAN & BELLE…for everything!!

Our day concluded with a scrumptious meal at a marvelous Indian restaurant, a required stop for cannoli & gelato, and a walk home along the path that we navigated on our first night. Ahh, Roma! We will miss you!