Renaissance Rome

Buon Giorno,
After a largely sleepless night, I did better today than I thought I would. I'm tired, but it's not the down deep to the bone exhaustion I felt yesterday.
I've had some water, and taken off my shoes and contact lenses. Time for apero!  Prosecco is refreshing on a hot afternoon.  To eat I have my crostini spread with hummus.  Ok. That's not exactly authentico, but I like hummus for breakfast, but I need to use it up.  It's actually nice with the sparkling wine.
I set off having made some fruitful plans to visit a villa park on the Janiculum Hill. Then I would walk down said hill to the Villa Farnesina.  I'd been to the latter before and was eager to see it again.  Then I would take a bus or tram or something to connect with a metro line and pick up some cash at my bank's foreign partner on the way home.
I asked at reception, and the nice young lady told me a bus would take me to the park.  Google maps, confirmed the existence of the bus only with a different number.  I set out in search of the bus stop.  I hunted in both directions on the main drag, and I found bus stops, but none with the right number or stops. Bus stops in Rome helpfully list the stops you can expect.  I walked so far I got to the next Metro stop.
Well, phooey on this, I said.  I'll just go get cash and then visit Villa Farnesina.  Yesterday when I was in the neighborhood the bank practically leaped out in front of me.  Today--I couldn't find it.  I tried different streets.  I retraced my steps.  I decided to give up.  Then the bank magically appeared in front of my eyes.  The Bankomats are smart.  I insert my American ATM card and the instructions automatically appear in English.
Then I strolled down to the Tiber and voluntarily got on a bus.
Gasp!  Really, Pil?
Yup.  Remember the signs list the stops, and I knew which one I wanted.  It was a quick and easy ride. I hopped off, found the entrance, and bought my ticket.
Villa Farnesina was the brainchild and pleasure house of Agostino Chigi, who was rich and well connected enough to afford the services of Raphael and his studio.  The house itself is small, but exquisite. The decorations in pure High Renaissance style are impressive.  Of course, the most famous is the Galatea Fresco, which has always been one of my favorites, but the rest is worth seeing as well.
This time around I got a bonus.  A special exhibition of Leonardo's influence on Raphael and others appeared.  Moreover, the Villa had acquired a very informative audio guide tour, and more of the rooms opened to the public.  I spent a very worthwhile time.
Leaving the Villa I walked down the street and under an arch and found myself in Trastavere, a charming section of Rome that manages to be both touristy and a real neighborhood.  I strolled around for a bit--resisting the touristy bits.  Then I voluntarily got on another bus--one that would take me to Termini where I could get the Metro home.
The Romans have exemplary Metro manners.  No one sprawls or spreads if a fellow passenger needs a seat.  For some reason they never eat or drink on the trains, and they conduct themselves with quiet restraint.  Any noisy person is most likely to be a tourist.  Of course, like most humans these days, they are in thrall to their cell phones, but the carriages are mercifully free of beggars and buskers.
I stopped on the way to pick up some wine. I wanted Est Est Est!, which I enjoyed last time I was here.  White wine is not the best with tomato based sauce, but I didn't care for Latin reds, and also being a Californian, I like my wine chilled beyond any temperature a European could tolerate.  I picked up a cheapo DOG bottle, and I figured I'd get what I paid for.  Actually it's ok--a bit sweet, but that might help with the tomato based sauce.  Obviously I can't drink the whole bottle, but if no one else wants it, it was so cheap, I won't mind pouring it out.
And I confess that I wimped out on the bucatini.  I snapped the strands in half.  Although it's good, it's also too hard to cook and eat otherwise.  I also loaded on the sauce because I needed to use it up.
Ciao!