Giorno 6: Venerdi, 23 Novembre
Art Until Dark!
"We'll begin with a guided tour of sheer beauty in the Borghese Gallery. Bernini's most graceful and lifelike sculptures reside here — his athletic David and delicate Apollo and Daphne — as well as masterpieces by Canova, Caravaggio, Titian and Raphael. . "
- Rome In Seven Days Itinerary, www.ricksteves.com
Francesca joined us again for the Borghese Gardens and Gallery. She called the gardens "Rome's backyard". It's where she learned to ride a bike. The Borghese Gallery houses an incredible collection of sculpture by Bernini, including The Rape of Persphone, one of the first works of art I fell in love with as a child. I wish I could show you photos of some of the works, but the gallery doesn't allow photography.
After our tour, we walked to the Spanish Steps, then split up for an afternoon on our own. Derek and I wandered through the immediate neighborhood, looking at store windows with great Italian designers we could never afford. |
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The Capitoline Museum...was our destination for the afternoon. The museum's buildings surround an elegant square designed by Michelangelo. In the center is a replica of the famous statue of Marcus Aurelius. The atrium to the museum houses a fun collection of disembodied sculpture bits. Rick's guidebook tour does a good job of hitting the highlights: battles in relief, the she-wolf statue, the Dying Gaul, the original statue of Aurelius. But, we found our own treasures too, like a funeral monument in Hebrew that says (more or less) "I am a lucky piece of marble. I was taken from the mountain to be the memorial to a kind and honest man." Also, the bust above, who looks spookily like our guide. We call him...Beniums Maximus!
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The most amazing element of the visit was the Tabularium, the rooms that once held the archives of ancient Rome. The rooms look out on the Forum. We arrived at the golden hour and the Forum was bathed in the most amazing pinkish golden light. This was one of a couple of moments on the trip where I felt like Derek and I were in some sort of sequel to "Roman Holiday". (Derek looks more like George Peppard than Gregory Peck, but still...)
We finished the day with our group for a farewell dinner at Ristorante Terme di Diocleziano , a fantastic restaurant that's actually in a corner of the Baths of Diocletian. The owner really went all out. He kept bringing treat, after treat, after treat! Once we were done, I wasn't worth anything but going straight to bed! |
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