Thursday Oct 9
Today we walked our buns off (don’t we wish!) through medieval (which surrounds our “home”) and Renaissance Rome. Campo dei Fiori, with its morning vegetable and flower market, is just across the river and a few blocks in, so that was first on our itinerary. From there it was on to Piazza Navonna, Via Condotti, and the Spanish Steps.
We had reservations (easily made by phone or online) at the Galleria Borghese, in the Villa Borghese park, so we did not hang around the Steps, but continued to this final destination. The museum houses a wonderful collection of paintings and sculpture gathered in various (and often nefarious) methods mainly by a member of the family who was a cardinal, as well as a nephew of the Pope in the 1600’s. Many of the antiquities in the original collection were later “secured” by Napoleon, and, since he did provide some small payment for them, the French would not return them and they now reside in the Louvre. But what Napoleon did not take is still quite impressive.
From there we headed back to our place here in Trastevere, walking through the streets of Rome, past both ancient and contemporary landmarks, on a bright sunny day with temperatures in the high 70’s. Hard to beat for Roma-philes!
Tomorrow it will be Ancient Rome, and the weather looks just as good!
But, not before we venture out to find some gelato, savor the evening, and try to find a place to post this two-day entry to our blog.
A joint effort today by,
Mariellena e Tommaso
Today we walked our buns off (don’t we wish!) through medieval (which surrounds our “home”) and Renaissance Rome. Campo dei Fiori, with its morning vegetable and flower market, is just across the river and a few blocks in, so that was first on our itinerary. From there it was on to Piazza Navonna, Via Condotti, and the Spanish Steps.
We had reservations (easily made by phone or online) at the Galleria Borghese, in the Villa Borghese park, so we did not hang around the Steps, but continued to this final destination. The museum houses a wonderful collection of paintings and sculpture gathered in various (and often nefarious) methods mainly by a member of the family who was a cardinal, as well as a nephew of the Pope in the 1600’s. Many of the antiquities in the original collection were later “secured” by Napoleon, and, since he did provide some small payment for them, the French would not return them and they now reside in the Louvre. But what Napoleon did not take is still quite impressive.
From there we headed back to our place here in Trastevere, walking through the streets of Rome, past both ancient and contemporary landmarks, on a bright sunny day with temperatures in the high 70’s. Hard to beat for Roma-philes!
Tomorrow it will be Ancient Rome, and the weather looks just as good!
But, not before we venture out to find some gelato, savor the evening, and try to find a place to post this two-day entry to our blog.
A joint effort today by,
Mariellena e Tommaso
1 comment:
Hi Mary Ellen and Tom,
Just a short note to say hello and thanks so much for your wonderful blog. I jsut love reading and re reading it and looking at the great pictures.
It is so great to think of you in Rome!!!!! YOu guys are so trememdously cool!
Thinking of you both and sending lots of love, Gretchen
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