- Rome

I slept through the entire night without getting up - quite a feat anymore.

We grabbed breakfast and a shower and headed out - this is our last day in Roma and we're heading to Trastevere and the old Jewish Ghetto.

We took a cab over to Villa Farnesina. The frescoed rooms are amazing.

The ticket for Villa Farnesina

Facade of Villa Farnesina

Ceiling of the Loggia of Cupid and Psyche

Marriage of Alexander the Great and Roxana, east side of room

Marriage of Alexander the Great and Roxana, west side of room

We stopped at Santa Maria della Scala. We talked with a couple from Melbourne, Australia - their son lives in Italy and so they come here every couple of years.

The alter at Santa Maria della Scala	A view of the entrance and the organ pipes
Aviva and I in front of a statue of a nun	A window of the Madonna and child
The ceiling
The dome is striking

As we walked to our next church, we saw a woman with a pretty black pomeranian - the dog loved me but growled at Aviva!

What a cute dog!

We walked down to Santa Maria in Trastevere.

The facade of Santa Maria in Trastevere
A detail of the outside mosaic frieze
The mosaic behind the altar
A detail from the right side mosaic	A statue of a monk with notes (we saw two people place notes and candles while we were there)

Trastevere is an interesting area - lots of small streets, still quite a feeling of the old Rome (it reminded Aviva of Naples).

This is what the streets look like in Trastevere

We started walking towards the ghetto. We stopped along the way at Gino in Trastevere at Via della Lungaretta 85 and had lunch. It was very good - I had homemade fettucini with porcini mushrooms and parmesiana, followed by veal saltumbocca.

The Tiber at Tiber Island

We crossed the Tiber at Tiber Island, and then went to the Spanish Synagogue. The synagogue was built in 1901 - 1904; during the ghetto years, there was one building housing 5 separate temples, one for each of the practicing groups. We went on the guided tour (its the only way to see the inside - security is very tight because a Palestinian set off a bomb inside a few years ago), which was fun - a young Jewish woman was our guide, and she was very knowledgeable and pleasant. I bought another yud (pointer to use when reading Torah) - I love the way yud's look and I just love having a few small ones around.

The ticket to the Museo Ebraica
The facade of the Sinagoga	Another interior view
An interior view of the Sinagoga

We walked on to the Teatro di Marcello, and then saw the famous fountain at Palazzo Mattei.

A shot of Teatro di Marcelo

The fountain at Palazzo Mattei

We stopped at a nice cafe along Argentina and had gelato, some pastry and Coke Light (and rested). Then we strolled back to the hotel, by way of the Pantheon, to pack.

Aviva found this post card - I guess Axe really does drive girls wild!

We finally got around to dinner - we went to Ristorante Mario at Via della Vite 55; the food was Tuscan and good. We walked back and hit the rack.

Business card for Ristorante Mario