trastevere explorations

Yesterday Sarah and I went to Villa Farnesina, which was a residence and now a wonderfully restored museum (literally of the villa itself). Famous artists were commissioned to do different rooms in the home. It was wonderful. Several of the rooms used perspective, which was a little trippy. According to Sarah, the man of the house threw very lavish parties. And to demonstrate that money was no object to him, after dinner was over, he would insist that his guests go outside to the Tiber River (which is very close) and throw their dishes and silverware (all gold or gold-detailed of course) into the river. Though lavish, he wasn't quite as lavish as he appeared. He had laid nets at the bottom of the river and after everyone had gone home from the night's party, he would instruct his servants to pull the nets up from the river and therefore recapture all of the expensive dishes and silverware. Pictures weren't allowed inside, but here are a few from the grounds.

This is the back of the house. The tall windows were actually completely open (no glass) and this is where the guests would exit to the Tiber.

A summery look down a lane of trees :)

We then continued back towards home and stopped at the grocery store and a bakery, but along the way we found a few other little neighborhood treasures...


I'm starting to really like living in Trastevere. It's one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city and dates back well into medieval times.