Love and Life

 
Via di Fori Imperiale is peaceful this morning as we walk among the emperors to our destination on Via San Teodoro.






 
It is not often that a journey to market takes in an ancient Roman road.

 
Before shopping we need our coffee/cornetti fix. Crystal di Zucchero is just the place. The cornetti here include those filled with honey as well as the usual jam and crema.


 
The display of sweet treats is tempting too.

The stall holders in the Circo Massimo Farmers Market are all from the Lazio area. The aroma of peaches fill the air as we walk amongst the stalls.


Someone is keeping an eye on us

 
After dropping our purchases at the apartment. we set out for the Colle Oppio, passing San Pietro in Vincoli on the way. To the left of the church is the palazzo where Cardinal della Rovere lived. He collected sculptures from the ancient world which he displayed in his garden here. When he became Pope Julius II he transferred them to the Vatican where they became the nucleus of the Vatican Museums.
We have a tour of the Domus Aurea booked but first we have to find the entrance True to form we walk around three sides of a square before locating the entrance close to where we set off.
As the area is a working archaeological site it is necessary to wear hard hats. I do love a hard hat.
 
 
We have a wonderful guide who really brings Nero's Golden House to life with her explanations & descriptions of the sumptuous rooms and gardens that once stood here. I can never quite get over how we are gazing at the friezes that people gazed at thousands of years ago. I feel so privileged to be able to touch the past in this way.
 



 
By the time we end the tour it is way past lunchtime but fortunately Zizzi is on our route back to the apartment. Cacio e peppe suppli keep us going.
 
 
Lunch in the apartment for one last time (we are moving tomorrow).
 
 
Peach, mozzarella & prosciutto salad.
 
We had planned to spend the afternoon packing but decide that, as 'you only live once', we will go to the Chagell exhibition instead.
 
 
I am so pleased we did. Chagall's love for his wife (and muse), Bella, shines through the sketches and paintings displayed here. Picasso said of Chagall that  'he must have an angel in his head'. I can see where he is coming from.
Il Goccetto beckons. We could stay all evening at this wine bar but decide this is not a good idea as dinner is waiting to be cooked in our apartment.
 
 
Dinner on the terrace starts with bruschetta......
 
 
......followed by Saltimbocca
 
 
Dessert comes courtesy of Crystal di Zucchero.
 
 
An added bonus this evening is that we have a Skype call with our lovely little family in Canada. How wonderful to see Evie with her first tooth. The wonders of modern technology.
We retire to bed happy, knowing that we must be up early to do the dreaded packing.