#3060 The Trip: Borghese Galleries and the Capitoline Musuems

ussie in Piazza della Rotunda

I kinda feel like we saved the best for last on our final day in Rome. We saw things that were new to all of us, which I felt was appropriate since we would be seeing new places and things from this point forward. 

The first stop of the day was the Borghese Galleries. The first time MT and I came to Rome, we talked about going there, but we didn't have tickets - we didn't know anything about it at the time - but going there sort of became an obsession of mine, kinda like the Alhambra was for MT. We probably had about a 30 minute walk to the Villa Borghese through a part of the city we hadn't been before. The walk was a slight but steady uphill climb, and the area was lovely. Not touristic, although there were some very nice-looking hotels on the way. The streets were quiet and shaded, and I quite liked the area. 

Finally we came to this:

Porta Pinciana

I didn't know what it was at the time; I figured it was part of the city walls. It is the divider between Via Venetto and the Borghese Gardens, and it is an ancient part of the Aurelian Walls. From this spot, we crossed the road and started walking through part of the Borghese Gardens. We didn't see the lake and the gazebo, but we all appreciated walking under the shady trees, because, you know, it was HOT!

 pedestrian road leading to the Villa Borghese

We had tickets for a timed, guided tour. A thing I learned about the museum is that only 350 people are allowed in the Galleries at one time, and there is a two hour limit to be there. The Galleries are compact and full of beautiful art. The first floor is mainly sculptures, and the second is mainly paintings. Because there are so few people there and because the entries are staggered, you really have time to enjoy the place without a bunch of other folks blocking your views of the art. It was a tremendous experience!

I knew two things about the Borghese Galleries. The first thing I knew about was Bernini's sculpture of The Rape of Prosperine. I have been eager to see this sculpture in person, and it is THE first thing you see on entering the gallery. It is stunning, even better than I ever imagined: the way Jupiter's hand is digging into Prosperine's thigh - Bernini makes the marble look like flesh. The tear on Prosperine's cheek, and the way she is pushing away his face. The way even her toes are tensed. The three-headed dog. The muscles in Jupiter's arms and legs. I could have looked at it for much longer, but there were so many other things to see, too. The place is full of Bernini's greatness.

The Rape of Prosperine - Bernini

The second thing I knew about the Galleria Borghese is that there are  Caravaggio paintings there. All six are grouped in the same room, and it is a spectacular display. Again, because there weren't many people in the room, I was able to get what I think are nice photos of the masterpieces. Here are three of my favorites:

David with the Head of Goliath

Saint Jerome Writing

Madonna of the Palafrenieri

Did you know that Caravaggio used his own image at the face of Goliath in the top painting? In the second painting, I love the simplicity and the colors used. In the third painting, I like the Madonna and the Child stepping on the snake. They are all just really freaking cool. 

Here is a pano I took of the space:

pano of the Caravaggio room

There was another sculpture by Bernini that absolutely took my breath away. I can't believe I'd never heard of this one before.

Apollo and Daphne

This sculpture show us the moment Apollo touches Daphne and she begins to turn into a tree. You can read the mythology here. I appreciated having a guide when I looked at this sculpture because she did a wonderful job of explaining exactly what I was looking at. After hearing the story, I walked around this statue probably three more times, looking at every little thing. It's beautiful.

I want to show you one more sculpture before we move away from the Borghese. This sculpture is by the artist Canova.

Paolina Borghese Bonaparte as Venus Victrix

Look at the cushion she is reclining on. Doesn't it look real and soft and squishy? It's all marble! I seriously cannot get over how these sculptors were able to render the rock like this. So cool. Not only did I want to show you the cool cushion, but Canova comes back into our story in a minute.

When our two hours in the Galleries was over, we hit the gift shop, of course, then we went outside to sit down in the shade, clear our minds, and figure out how we wanted to spend the rest of the day. We ended up deciding we would go to the Capitoline Museums. We bought tickets directly from the museum online. It wasn't too expensive and the entry wasn't timed, plus they are open fairly late, until 7 pm or so, which meant we didn't have to rush. This was nice considering it is on the opposite side of the city! 

We decided we would go to Piazza del Popolo because there is a church in the piazza that has two Caravaggio paintings. (I know! We are obsessed!) We were able to walk down a really nice tree-lined walkway, and I was really pleased with this green space.

the menfolk

We were thwarted in our Caravaggio quest at the church in Piazza del Popolo. There are limited hours to see the paintings, although it is free. We had just missed one of the windows of time, and we were unwilling to come back two hours later. Oh well. Gotta save something for next time!

Since we were hungry (it was just after 2pm) we found a restaurant that looked interesting. It was filled with statues. 

Musee Atelier Canova Tadolini

This is just a very small sample of the statues in the room where we ate. What we found out was that this restaurant used to be the atelier of Antonio Canova, the same Canova that created the Venus Victrix sculpture in the Borghese. I was not as hungry as the menfolk; I had a little sandwich, but they had pasta and were very pleased with it. MT also had an octopus salad which delighted him. It was an unexpected cool place. You come to expect the unexpected cool stuff in Rome. 

We passed by the Spanish Steps and made our way to Capitoline Hill to the Campodoglio and into the Museums. There are two museums, one on either side of the piazza. We started with the one on the right as you enter the piazza, and started wandering. I just have a couple of things to show you, although I took many photos as there was a lot of fantastic things in these museums.

She-Wolf

Surely you know the story of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, and the She-Wolf who raised them. (Click on the link above if you want to read about it.) This bronze sculpture is from the 5th century BC! It's nearly 2500 years old. How do you wrap your brain around that? No, it's not really beautiful, but it's so freaking old!!!!

The Capitoline Museums also have two paintings by Caravaggio  a few humungous statues, and paintings by Rubens, Titian, and others, including this one by Passarotti:

Portrait of a Man with a Dog

I like the guy's face, and dogs are great. 

One more thing I want to show you. We walked through an underground passage that was filled with old, cool things to get from one museum to the other. There was a set of stairs to the right as we were walking through, and we thought that's where we were supposed to go. It wasn't into the museum, but it did lead to this view of the Forum and the Colosseum:

the Roman Forum and the Colosseum

Maybe you remember this photo in post #3058:

view from Roman Forum of Capitoline Museums

In the photo that includes the Colosseum, we are in the big arch on the left taking in that view. Cool, huh?

When we were finished walking around the Museums, we were tuckered out. We didn't even have it in us to try to go to the Vittoriano. Like we always say, you gotta leave something for next time. We walked back to our home piazza and had an aperitivo, then ended the night with a really yummy sandwich from Antica Salumeria which we took up to the apartment to eat. We all did go back out to do a bit of souvenir shopping, and that was the end of our time in Rome. 

This day had a step count of over 22,000. It was a big day!

Next up, we board a cruise ship and sail around the boot of Italy. I plan to have a separate post for each of the six stops, so I hope you'll come back for those stories and photos. 
 

xo

#3059 The Trip: Vatican City and the Pantheon

 

family at the Vatican Museums

Our second full day in Rome was truly "full." We had two tours booked and it started with an early morning walk to Vatican City. From our apartment, it was about a 40 minute walk. You know you're getting close when you see this:

view of St. Peter's Basilica, Ponte Sant'Angelo and the Tiber River

Our tour took us through parts of the Vatican Museums, through each of the four the Raffaelo Rooms, into the Sistine Chapel, and through St. Peter's Basilica. Each of these places is spectacular, and they are crowded - really, really crowded. Someday I would love to just get the audio guide and go as early as possible and wander through the Vatican Museums without a group tour. There are Caravaggio paintings in there that I didn't get to see and I would like to find them. There are paintings by more modern artists, including Picasso and Dali that I would like to get more than a passing glace at on my way to the Sistine Chapel. I would like to have more time in each of the Raffaelo rooms to take a closer look at all the figures. Raffaelo threw a lot of cool bits in his big frescos. Here are some examples:

what the heck is that kid doing to that dog?

a dragon!

that's an interesting dress, Innocentia

I love the expression on this face

that guy in the black hat looking right at you? That's Raffaelo

these two guys showed up on a rock & roll album cover almost 500 years later

that thoughtful fellow? Michelangelo

Photos aren't allowed in the Sistine Chapel. There is a bunch of cool stuff in there, too, as you know. St. Peter's is a feast for the eyes. From the Pieta to St. John Paul's chapel to the Pope's altar and the dome itself, not to mention all the tombs of past popes with the beautiful sculptures and all the gold. Did you know there are no paintings in the Basilica? It's all mosaic. It's incredible. I was going to post some of my photos of a few of the well-known pieces, but you can see those online. You might not get to see the smaller things that caught my eye that I posted above, though!

Here is a panoramic shot I took of Saint Peter's Square:

pano!

That's St. Peter's Basilica on the left. Going clockwise, the Sistine Chapel is that orange building to the right of the Basilica that looks kind of plain on the outside. Then you'll see Bernini's columns, and the obelisk in the center. Those chairs are always set up for the Pope's weekly audience on Wednesdays.

Many hours later, when we'd had our fill of Vatican City, we walked back to the the centro storico, the historic center of the city where we were staying. We had lunch at Quelli de' Coronari. I had pasta and it was great.

We had just a bit of time to go back to the apartment to have a rest before we met our tour for the Pantheon. Thankfully it was just a couple minutes to walk to the meeting place. When I went to the Pantheon with Lizzie, we didn't have a tour, and it was fine. It is a big room with some tombs (Raffaelo and Vittorio Emanuele II, most notably.) The guide on our tour on this day gave us some good information and we had plenty of time to see everything. I'm pretty sure an audio guide would give the same info for a lot less cost. The Pantheon is beautiful and interesting inside and out.

inside the Pantheon with the occulus

looking out from the Pantheon into Piazza della Rotunda

When the tour was over, we had aperitivo at the restaurant with the white umbrellas you can see on the left in the photo above. Our drinks came with snacks, so we called that our meal for the evening since we were still full of pasta.

aperitivo

It was a big day. My step count was 14,755. The next day would be the biggest step count in Rome when we went to the Borghese Galleries, back through the centro storico to the Campodoglio to look at the Capitoline Museums. I'll tell you about that on Sunday!

xo

#3058 The Trip: the Colosseum tour

ussie in the Colosseum

For our first full day in Rome, we'd booked a tour of the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Colosseum. This tour was T's one request for the trip. He really wanted to see the Colosseum, so we were glad to make it happen.

We had about a 30 minute walk from the apartment to the place where we had to meet our tour group. Lizzie, if you are reading this, we met the group at the piazza just above the Colosseum, and there is a fantastic view of the building from there.

the Colosseum

This is where I bought the snazzy hat I am wearing in the top photo. I think I got the men's version of the hat. It is a bit big because surprisingly, I have a small head. I liked the style of the men's hat a little better than the women's. The hat is made of paper and I wore it most days for the rest of the trip. I even brought it home with me because I couldn't bear to abandon it in Venice when we left. It survived the trip fairly well. Have I worn it since I got home? No, not yet, but I might.

There was a heat wave in Europe while we were there, and I can attest to the fact that the heat wave was NOT fake news. I fanned myself with the paper ticket for the tour, but it didn't provide much relief. Fortunately, I did have a bottle of water and Rome has many nasoni, fountains with cool water that are available all over the city, including in the area where we were touring. It's good to stay hydrated. 

The tour was three and a half hours long walking tour. Our guide was knowledgeable and fun. MT and I had taken this tour when we in Rome before, but the order was reversed on this tour. We started in the Forum and ended in the Colosseum. I liked that because on the previous tour, we didn't get to see or learn much about the Forum because our guide spent a lot of time in the Colosseum and Palatine Hill. Another difference was what we saw at Palatine Hill this time. It looks like there have been some changes up there from when I was here before, like the addition of a museum. More likely, the museum was there before and we didn't pass it. Palatine Hill is quite large. The Colosseum tour was basically the same with two notable exceptions. First, you have to show your passport before you can enter the Colosseum and the Forum. (They are close together, but are two separate entrances. You can buy entrance to each of the places separately, but since we were on a tour, they were both part of the tour.) The second thing was the gift shop in the Colosseum. I do not remember it being there before, or maybe our guide didn't take us by it since we were going to the other places after the Colosseum. 

Here are some photos I took:

the columns on the left are the Temple of Vespasian and Titus (87 AD)
the columns on the right are the Temple of Castor and Pollux (14 BC) 

Temple of Antonius and Faustina (141 AD)

There is a lot going on in this next photo. The arch on the right is the Arch of Septimus Severus, dedicated in 203 AD to the Emperor Septimus Severus. On the left, the columns you see are the Temple of Saturn rebuilt in 360 AD, but originally from 497 BC. That single column closest to us in the photo is the Column of Phocus, the latest addition to the Roman Forum. It was placed there in the second century AD. I don't know about those columns in the back. NOTE: you will probably see this photo again in a few days when I talk about the Capitoline Museum. That is the building with the bell tower you see in the back. 

The Roman Forum

I don't remember what this place is, but I liked the flowers coming up among the ruins

I think the photo above was taken on Palatine Hill, but I don't remember for sure. Palatine Hill is where the emperors lived. It is above the Roman Forum on one side, overlooks Circus Maximus on another side, and had underground tunnels to the Colosseum, which is located on the other side.

inside the Colosseum

In the above photo, I am standing where people would have sat to watch the events . That open area is where the cells and cages for the animals and gladiators were. There was a floor, of course, covered with sand so spectators couldn't see those cells and cages. Trapdoors and platforms brought the fighters to the surface. There is a tour of that area, but we didn't have that ticket.

my menfolk like the Colosseum

After our tour, we had lunch at Pasqualino al Colosseo. We all had pizza and it was really, really good!

We wanted to go to the Vittoriano, the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument, because we have seen on Instagram that there is an incredible view of the city from up there. Something was going on because there were police all around it and it was blocked off. We walked up the back way and ended up on the Capitoline Hill at the Piazza del Campodoglio. I'd been there with Lizzie, and it is just stunning. 

replica of She-Wolf statue on Capitoline Hill

Piazza del Campodoglio

We kept looking for a way into the Vittoriano. I thought there might be a passage at the top of some steps by a church, so we climbed over 100 steps to the top, but there was no passage. We went into the church instead. 

inside the Basilica of Santa Maria in Arecoeli

The church was very beautiful, of course. It has many, many chandeliers, which made it extra wonderful, in my opinion. I was not surprised to learn that the hundred plus steps I climbed to get to the church was once considered a pilgrimage of sorts for women who wanted a baby. You had to want to get up there. The steps were no joke on this hot, hot day.

A micro memory of this stop happened while I was sitting in a chair, contemplating the grandeur and the chandeliers. T and MT had been roaming around, looking at different chapels. T came back and I asked him if he'd seen anything interesting. He told me that there was a room with a glass box with a baby doll in it. Maybe I didn't do a good job of explaining Catholic stuff to my son. Of course, the baby doll represents Baby Jesus, and apparently the baby doll was very significant to this church and it was stolen in the 1990s. The baby doll on display now is but a replica. Still, T's description cracked me up.

From the top of those 100 plus stairs, there is an incredible view of Rome, including a very nice look at St. Peter's Basilica (center left.)

view from Santa Maria in Aracoeli

I read that the sunset view from here is awesome, nearly as good as from the Vittoriano, and you don't even have to pay for it with money, just in sweat (because of all the stairs.)

We didn't stay for sunset. Instead, we walked back to the apartment and promptly got comfortable for the evening. We were all still full of pizza, so we didn't even go back out that night. My step count that day was 17,851.

On Friday, I'll tell you about our tour of the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, Saint Peter's Basilica, and the Pantheon. 

xo

PS I got all the info about the ruins in the photos of the Forum here.

#3057 The Trip: first night in Rome

ussie at the Trevi Fountain

On Wednesday 10 June we said good-bye to Spain and hello to Italy; Rome to be exact. We flew from Barcelona to Rome and arrived in the Eternal City around 2:00 PM. We met our driver at the airport and he dropped us off in front of the hotel Lizzie and I stayed in when we were there a couple of years ago. Our apartment was just a three minute walk from that hotel. We met our host very easily and she took us up to the apartment. Curiously, the apartment was on the fourth floor, but you had to press "7" on the elevator to get to it. The elevator was tiny and slow and I was a little bit scared of it, but it always worked. I usually took the stairs going down (there were 75), but I always took the elevator up. Another curious thing was that our apartment did not have a number. That's a good reason to take the elevator. I knew exactly where the apartment was when I got off the elevator. All the doors by the elevator on the other floors looked just the same as our door. The apartment was two bedrooms, one bath, a nice kitchen and big living room. The bed MT and I shared was weird, but the AC worked well and I loved the location of the apartment. 

Once we got settled, T was planning to nap, but MT and I wanted to go walking around. We convinced T to come along. It wasn't a hard sell. He's been wanting to come to Italy for a long time, ever since he played "Assassin's Creed." 

As we were staying on Via Pantheon right off the Piazza della Rotunda, obviously the first site was the Pantheon and its obelisk.

MT and T in Piazza della Rotunda

MT was eager to go to Piazza Navona, and on our way there, we passed a church sign that said "Caravaggio." A little history: the first time MT and I came to Rome, we somehow became fascinated by the artist Caravaggio, and we decided the next time we came to Rome, we would go on a Caravaggio Quest to see as many of his paintings as we could. I know there are several churches with free entry where there are Caravaggio paintings, and this was one of the, San Luisi dei Francesi. 

There are three paintings by Caravaggio in this church. Sadly for me, a professional photographer was set up in the chapel where the paintings are so my view was partially blocked. Here's what I saw:

The Calling of Saint Matthew (1600)

The Inspiration of Saint Matthew (1602)

The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew (1600)

Caravaggio is such an interesting person and his art was remarkable in the way he used light. I'm fascinated by his paintings.

Feeling extremely happy, we went on to Piazza Navona where we stopped at a cafe for an aperitivo. I didn't take many photos of my meals or food on this trip, but here is a pic of T in the piazza.

T in Piazza Navona

I knew we weren't far from Largo di Torre Argentina, the ancient site where Julius Caesar was stabbed on the Ides of March in 44 BC. Now it is a cat sanctuary in addition to having these ancient ruins.

Largo di Torre Argentina

From here, it wasn't a long walk to the Trevi Fountain, so that was our next stop.

the Trevi Fountain

If you want to get near the water so you can throw a coin in the fountain which is supposed to mean you'll come back to Rome, you now have to pay two euros to go down there. We did not do that, but I'm pretty sure I'll get back to Rome someday. I really love it. 

On our way back to the apartment, we passed the Basilica of Saint Mary of Minerva. Outside there was a big sign that there was a Caravaggio painting on display not in the church but in the building right next to it, and we could see it for free, so we had to! This painting was on loan from Palazzo Barberini. It was a treat to see it. 

Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini (early 1600s)

Four Caravaggio paintings in one day! I was stoked!!

When Lizzie and I were in Rome, we ate a a lovely little enoteca not far from Piazza della Rotunda, and I wanted to eat there again, so I'd made a reservation before we left the U.S. I recognized the woman who seats people and at least one of the waiters. Of course they didn't remember me, and I wouldn't expect that anyway. I was delighted to see them, though, and to be in the restaurant. Such good food! 

 a nice little restaurant

We ended our night with a gelato in the Piazza della Rotunda, then it was time to get some rest because the next day was our tour of the Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Colosseum. I'll tell you all about it on Wednesday.

xo