Thursday was relaxing in comparison to Monday-Wednesday. Instead of being gone from 8-8 (it seemed), I did not have to be anywhere until noon. So I took it easy and walked in a leisurely manner to the Academy where we toured the Villa Aurelia a property owned by the AAR and the highest point in Rome. We climbed to the top of the recently-renovated villa and enjoyed the view of the entire city.
After another delicious lunch at the AAR we headed out to the Villa Giulia, the National Etruscan Museum, and one of the Academy’s fellows gave us a tour of the museum which had several highlights including the Sarcophagus of the Spouses, the Chigi Vase, and the Apollo of Veii. It was a fascinating museum and it was very instructive to be led around by someone who is obviously knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their subject!
The Villa Giulia also has nymphaeum designed and executed by Vasari in which bird violence had recently occurred (two seagulls took down a pigeon) so that’s unfortunately in my picture.
To get to the Villa Giulia we took taxis and I continue to find Italian driving a both fascinating and terrifying exercise in human interaction.
The original blog can be found here, with pictures!
Chronicles of a Homebody Adventurer 