A day on the Palatine

Another big day out - had a lovely visit to the Villa Farnesina where there were beautiful ceiling frescoes by Raphael and his associates. Absolutely stunning - lots of nymphs being pursued by satyrs and winged cherubs doing their stuff. Then we had a lovely walk along the river and noted the old Roman bridges still in use. Saw the lovely church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin but didn't put our hands into the mouth of truth. Far too dangerous, so Liz bought a nice fridge magnet of it instead - I am having to pull Liz away from tacky Church shops - she has an addiction to snow domes - one snow dome can be excused but anymore than that is worrying.

I took some photos of pretty shop windows to prove that this isn't entirely a gruelling trip ticking off museums and monuments! We strolled around the Palatine and the Forum in the afternoon enjoying the ambience - it is hard to believe it is all real as it seems like a film set. Particularly the Colosseum. We stopped off at our favourite bakery and bought a delicious ricotta and chocolate torte to have with the Sicillian strawberries we got from the market earlier. Liz is going to make asparagus risotto for dinner - should be good.