It was much faster to drive to the villa, but parking there is $15. The bus would have been cheaper, but it also would have taken over an hour to get there. However, you can't walk into the villa; you have to either park there or get your ticket validated by the bus driver. So we drove to the last bus stop before the villa, found free street parking, and then took the bus. That way we got there faster but avoided the $15 parking.
Waiting for the bus.
Pretty crowded.
A shuttle took you up to the villa from here.
According to our architecture tour, Roman villas were designed to look boring on the outside to discourage thieves; the artwork was all hidden inside. Also, there were no grand stairways. They were also discrete to make it hard for thieves to get to other floors.
The main entrance. About 150 slaves and 50 family members would have lived in a villa of this size.
Neat rock.
The atrium roof is angled inward to collect rainwater.
The Marbury Hall Zeus.
These statues had only heads and genitals.
Sarcophagus with scenes of Baccus.
The garden for the women and slaves.
Sarcophogus with scenes from the life of Achilles.
Mosaic with the removal of Briseis.
Scroll fragment of The Odyssey.
The Lansdowne Herakles, one of J Paul Getty's most prized possessions and the inspiration for this museum.
They had two guided tours, an architecture one and a garden one. They had little radios so you could hear the guide much easier, which was really nice.
A girl balancing a book on her head.
The eyes on the statues creep me out.
The inner peristyle, the first garden guests come across in the villa.
Pretty floor.
The outer peristyle.
The paintings on the walls were a repetition of theme with differences in details.
Sleeping satyr.
I liked all the little animals on the wall paintings.
A terrace for different plants on different levels.
Olive tree.
Lavender.
A pine tree whose shape represents the pyroclastic blast of Vesuvius.
We were encouraged to rub and smell the plants on the garden tour. The original herb harden would have been 20 times larger.
The tiles were diagonal to resist earthquakes.
Papyrus.
The balm was one of my favorite smelling ones.
Plum tree.
Cardoon thistle in the middle of lavender.
A tiny vineyard.
Lamb's Ears were used as bandages.
Another cute little animal on the wall.
There was some topiary, where they clip the plants into certain shapes.
The lanterns burned olive oil.
The butchers broom has a single thorn and was used by butchers to clean their working space.
A strawberry tree. The guide said the berries were an "acquired taste," but I thought they were OK.
A fertility goddess.
A pregnant female figure. Although I don't know; maybe she's just a bit chubby.
Glass.
Dumb Roman numerals making me actually have to do some math to figure out which room it is.
We couldn't figure out how to open this door, so we just about didn't go through it. But then I found a little button on the side to open it.
And it's a good thing I did, because this was the view.
Another button you had to hit to get back in, although at least this one was a little easier to find.
Statuette of a woman feeding a hen and chicks.
Mosaic of a boxing scene.
Coins from different areas.
Sacrophagus.
Sheets inscribed with Jewish prayers.
Religious calendar of Thorikos.
The Queen's Bible, the first use if photography for Biblical illustration.