Mr Warburton, I finally got to see it

Many years ago, in a land far away, (that is sometimes called the past), I sat in a class at Riccarton High School learning about a place called Hadrian's Villa. I clearly remember being taken in by its magic and by the beauty of what it had been and I told myself that one day I would go and see it.

Today, this day, on our trip, was the day I was going to fulfil that dream. Sure the brain cells are a lot less and I couldn't recall that much about it, however, I hoped that I would remember enough.


I think we were all a bit excited. Asher had heard a bit about it from his awesome Aunty Ra and so he was looking forward to seeing somewhere he'd heard about it. I mean look at his face, the excitement is palatable. 


A bus tour was required for this journey, as Tivoli, the place Hadrian's Villa is, is a wee way out of Rome. 3 days horse ride to be exact, however, we don't need horses to travel any more so a booking was made and a bus was boarded. There were about 20 of us and a tour guide. The trip took about 20-30 minutes, much faster than the horse.

We arrived at the Villa and it was out into the sun. We all popped on some sunscreen and prepared for the walk up the 'ramp', a long slope up a hill. 

Then we there. The tour guide began explaining the history to us all and we listened and we learned. She pointed out to us that we would need to use our imagination a lot because they are ruins and so it isn't all there anymore.

But before you begin the trip through photos some information.

Hadrian was emperor during the second and third decade of the 2nd century. 100 something AD. He didn't really like hanging out on the Palatine Hill in the Palace and so he had the Villa built for himself and his family (and nobles and servants ...). He was a good Emperor and took care of his people. He did lots of travelling and so because of this that his villa included a lot of things he discovered in his villa. 

So here we go ...




One of the reflection pools.

A friendly native

The walls of the villa. Some of it has been restored so that it doesn't fall down.




His private area - where he spent time alone away from the hustle and bustle. 
It had a moat and a one entry bridge.











The banqueting hall

The gym - yes they had a gym.

The baths















Isn't it wonderful?! It did come back to me as I travelled and it was such a thrill to be in the space with the statues and the water. It was amazing. 



To be continued ...



Comments

  1. Fantastic team x bet the turtle's called Hadrian! The site looks amazing. A good tour guide is worth their weight in gold! Looking forward to the RUFUS leap x Enjoy :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There were many turtles. And fish. And one tour guide. Not sure if we did leap that day. :)

      Delete
  2. Hi spraggs it is Nikoli here it look like you are having a fantastic time overseas, Great job Asher you got closer than I would get to a big jawed creature it looked very scary good on you.

    12:01 pm 7/9/18

    Yaldhurst Nikoli

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Nikoli,

      Thanks for commenting. The big jawed creature did look very real. He wasn't though. Apparently there were all sorts of animals around that pool originally. It would have been cool to have seen them all.

      :) Mrs Spragg

      Delete
  3. Hi guys Mikael here I think that the tour looks really fun. and how is that animal in that water it looks really dirty. the whole thing looks really fun I wish I could come, but I have to stay here while you guys have fun we all wish we could come with you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mikael,

      The tour was fun. The water does look dirty but I think that was the colour rather than it being dirty. Not long till the holidays though ... then you can have lots of fun.

      :) Mrs Spragg & Hannah

      Delete
  4. Hi Mrs Spragg, I really like your photos, they are so clear!
    next time can you not put
    so many pictures? because It is a very long trip to get to
    the writing at the top and the comments o the bottom
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Sam,

      It is a problem having so many pictures ... and I didn't even use them all. Asher has taken over 2500 photos! That's a lot. Imagine if I had used all of those. You would have been reading/looking all day.

      :) Mrs Spragg

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  5. Hi Mrs Spragg.
    I love turtles! The babies are soo cute!
    What else did you see at the tour?
    It looks really fun. Keep Having It!

    Kind Regards

    Teegan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Teegan,

      They were very friendly turtles. They came over to us quickly, I guess they were hoping from some kai. We saw mostly old ruins. Read my next few posts to see what we did in the afternoon.

      I will keep having fun. I hope you find some fun too.

      :) Mrs Spragg

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