Day 8: Villas and Vias

This post was written by Makhayla:

I woke up this morning weary-eyed, and the first thought that crossed my mind was: Hadrian's Villa. Today was the day when Michelle and I served as tour guides. And, instead of having two hours to get ready to go we only had an hour. This made the morning slightly more hectic than usual. Even though there were a few bumps to our morning routine, everything worked out for the best. Nathan was kind enough to prepare a lovely breakfast for the group. He made scrambled eggs and there were also croissants, yogurt, cereal, and fruit. After cleaning up, we all scurried around doing last minute tasks before departure.

All in all, I have to say that we did a pretty good job with staying on schedule. After leaving the apartment, we walked down the street where we then loaded onto the bus. As far as transportation goes, today was an easier day than the last three days. We had a chartered bus which picked us up and dropped us off at Hadrian's Villa, which is located on the outskirts of Rome. Even though we were about ten minutes late this morning, everything worked out because instead of taking an hour to get to the villa it only took about twenty minutes. Since we got there at about 8:30 and Hadrian's Villa didn't open until 9:00, we had about half an hour to relax at small cafe which was right next door to the villa.

Right as we were getting ready to enter Hadrian's Villa, it began to sprinkle. Luckily that only lasted for about ten, fifteen minutes. Michelle and I began the tour right inside of the main entrance, where we introduced the group into the main background of Emperor Hadrian and his Villa. From there we went from the Pecile, to Canopus, to the Piazza D'Oro, to the Maritime Theater. We then finished with a leisurely stroll through the Vale of Tempe.

After our peaceful tour of Hadrian's Villa, we loaded back onto the bus and we headed towards the village which surrounded the Villa d'Este. Here we split up into small groups and departed for lunch. The village had several cute cafes along with a few fancy restaurants. Afterwards we all met up next to the shopping area of the Village where we then walked to the Villa d'Este.

While we were at the Villa d'Este we did not have a tour guide. That was because this was meant to be a site where we could stroll around and explore the beauty of the villa. Here we found many waterfalls and gardens. It was nice to be able to walk around and explore all that the villa had to offer.

Our visit to the Villa d'Este was followed by a long walk along the Via Appia which eventually led us back to our Apartment. While walking, we decided to stop at a beautiful field where we had many options. Most of the group played a game called "Ulta ball" which they made up. The rest of the group either walked around the open field or socialized while taking several pictures. Everyone truly seemed to enjoy themselves.

By the time we got home it was about six oclock. We then had about an hour to hangout, do laundry, shower and do anything else that needed to be done. At approximately 7:00 everyone broke up into small groups once again and ventured out for dinner and desert. Everyone then returned home and spent a good chunk of time journaling and getting ready for tomorrow. We finished off the day by having a group meeting where we discussed the day's activities.

Today was a very busy day and everyone is excited to see what is in store for tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Makhayla A. Rose =)