Roma: Day Two

From One End of Town to the Other

Borghese Gallery and Ancient Appian Way 

Today we got up early (you’ll see that is a theme) to tour the Borghese Gallery Museum in the Villa Borghese. The kid that runs our hotel Our hotel concierge said that it was a 35 minute walk to the museum. We also had to arrive 30 minutes prior to our reservation, in order to claim our tickets. After about five minutes of brisk walking our calves were killing us and we could tell that we weren't covering enough ground fast enough. So we caught a cab, which ended up being a way better idea. It was a long way (35 minutes?) and the cab was totally affordable. We made it with several minutes to spare.

Of course, there are no pictures allowed inside the museum. If I was ever going to break that rule and snap a photo of one piece of art, it would have been in this gallery. They have several sculptures by a seventeenth century artist, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. He was incredible and one of the first in his time to make masterpieces out of one solid piece of marble. His father was also an artist that sculpted using this technique, but the son really made the marble come alive in a way that no one else really had. One statue in particular was unbelievably breathtaking, and I wish I could have photographed it. Apollo and Daphne You’ll have to look at pictures online, but trust me it was amazing in person. The intricacy of the leaves and bodies, it is incredible that it all came from one solid piece of marble. The leaves are so thin they are almost translucent. Incredible. 

The entire house was stacked with fantastic art, but in a way that was digestible. We just used their audio guide, but still it was fantastic. You are only allowed 2 hours and we soaked up every second. It was interesting to hear about who requisitioned each piece and then how it came to be in the Borghese collection. Sadly, Napoleon forced his sister to sell many fantastic works of art during his time of power, and because they were sold, not exactly stolen, they weren’t required to be returned once he was conquered. I think I heard that most of them are in the Louvre. It was also sad, and interesting, to hear that so many paintings were obtained through misuse of power. The Borghese family was related to a pope, and at one point, the head of the house was a cardinal as well. They used their positions of power to extort people for the art they owned. For example, they might charge you with some crime and put you in prison, so that the price of your freedom was most of your possessions.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the museum and surrounding gardens. You could easily spend all day there.

I asked if there was a drinking fountain, the bookstore lady said, yes, just outside.

I was a little nervous. This looks like a decorative fountain, not a drinking fountain.
However, she assured me that she drinks it every day. 

The Borghese family wanted a home like no other. This was used to house exotic birds.

There were designed gardens and acres of open park.

This building was so intriguing to me, wish we'd been able to go inside.

There is even a zoo on the property!

We were just outside the old walls of Rome.

After our morning on the north end of town, we headed south to the Ancient Appian Way: Rome’s oldest and first road. I really enjoy ancient history and I was excited to see this bit of history first hand. We toured an early Christian catacomb and then walked our way up the ancient road to a little café where we had a sandwich and a cappuccino. It was a perfect afternoon.

Inside a catacomb, before I realized that no pictures were allowed. 

A reconstructed portion of the ancient road.

Ruins, ruins everywhere. There should be some sections of aqueduct out there somewhere.

Welcome to Rome, the city of headless statues.

I confess, I can't even remember what this building used to be now. Currently it's a museum.

The original portion of the Appian Way.

This guy (or girl?) was right at home outside the Appian Way Cafe. 

Delicious!

We eventually caught a bus and headed back to town to do some classic tourist sightseeing. We took the metro to the Spanish steps and walked our way down to the Trevi Fountain and on through town, eating our daily gelato. 

The Spanish Steps

Blake got suckered by the rose peddlers at the Spanish steps. 

At the top of the steps.

The view from the top.

It had just poured rain and cleared everyone out for our picture ;).
I think there is a raindrop on the lens though, right about at Blake's face.

Trevi Fountain, all lit up.

The green tree cracked me up. This is a memorial to the man who united Italy.

And then we crashed into bed! I'm behind on getting these posted, but at the end of the day I'm just completely beat!