Hadrian's Villa and Tivoli.

Today we went on a day trip to Hadrian's Villa and the nearby town of Tivoli. Hadrian was emperor of Rome from 117 to 138 AD. He had this Villa so he could experiment with things architecturally, things that were not common among the Roman way of building, styles that he picked up on when he traveled around. He combined these styles, drew up plans and buildings himself, and then had slaves construct what he planned. He visited a few times a year just to see how they turned out and to tell them what to do differently. Hadrian's Villa had an elaborate hydraulic system that ran to huge fountains, streams, and pools, just to keep it cool on hot summer days. 

The Canopus.

Remains of the "hotel" he had in his Villa with Tivoli in the background.

The Maritime Theatre. 

This wasn't even a theatre, it just got that name as archaeologists were excavating the site. Some believe that the island inside of the moat was Hadrian's "escape room" -- a place he liked to go and not be disturbed with the hassles of being emperor.

The CUTEST turtle I've ever laid eyes on. Cristina was feeding it pieces of apple and it would try sooo hard to get out, sometimes it fell back in and then other times it made it up.

Sorry Brandon, but I'm in love with someone else now -- Hadrian's boyfriend, Antinous. All of his sculptures are so extremely attractive, and I wish I could've taken a picture with him in the Museum, but photos weren't allowed. I figured this would suffice.

After Hadrian's Villa, we went up to the town of Tivoli where the Villa d'Este Gardens are. This Villa was inspired by Hadrian's Villa, so it gives you more of an idea of what his was like. It's gorgeous.

The rest of my pictures aren't uploading at the moment, so I may just add them on to tomorrow's blog. Today was a really fun day and I loved being outside in the gorgeous weather. God's creations never cease to amaze me.