ROME - FRIDAY, MAY 18

Whew! Another long, fun day! Travel is work, and like any work, I can't get enough.

Andrea was actually awake by 7:30 am. Her motivation: our scheduled visit to the Borghese Gallery. As motivated as we were, our timing was off, and we had to hire a driver to take us into town in order to make our visit on time. While unexpected and expensive, it enabled us to go into the city on a different route and see some new things.

Our driver, Guiseppe, dropped us at the entrance to the Villa Borghese, a sprawling park, which made life easy for this old couple. Had we taken public transport, we never would have made it on time.

Who is that European woman waiting for Giuseppe

The gallery was the "country estate" of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, and it is an awesome collection of fabulous works of architecture, sculpture and painting amassed by a very wealthy family. My favorites were the Bernini sculptures, the Raphaels and Caravsggios, and the ceilings with their incrdible trompe de l'oeille and paintings. One has only two hours to visit both floors, and we spent every minute we could before being asked to leave at 1:00 pm.

Exterior of Borghese Gallery

We then walked the Via Veneto, the equivalent of Michigan Ave in Chicago. We stopped for a drink before hitting the fountain at Piazza Barberini. The metro took us to the Spanish Steps, which was just as mobbed with tourists and young people hanging out as it was when the Four Amigos were there in 1980!

Spanish Steps

From there, we walked down Via Condotti, gazing into all the upscale boutiques run by the biggest names in fashion. We stopped into the Ferragamo store, hoping to find some new shoes for Andrea (it is her favorite brnad of shoes), but they claim not to sell extra narrow sizes as they do in the States. We will try again in Firenze, where their flagship store operates.

Via Condotti where all the fancy shops are beneath the Spanish Steps

From there, it was down the Via Corso to to Augustus' Mausoleum and the Ara Pacis, where we not only saw this tribute to peace throughout the Roman world, but had seen in the metro that there was a special exhibit of avant garde Russian painters. BINGO BONUS for Andrea!

Hungry from no lunch and fading in stamina, we meandered down to the Pantheon, stopping in at a baroque wonder of a church, St. Ignatius. The Pantheon was a marvel, and I enjoyed Andrea's history of it.

Pantheon

From there, we headed over to the Trevi Fountain, which was deservedly mobbed at 6:30.

Trevi Fountain

Hunger and exhaustion took over, and we stopped at Al Presidente, a fun ristorante on Via in Arcione. We started with bruschetta and antepasta. Will ordered the veal (perfectly pummelled) in white wine sauce with grilled vegetables (red peppers, eggplant, zucchini.) Andrea had lasagne Bolongnese and a salad. Delicioso and caro!

By then, it was 8:00 pm. We walked to the metro and began our journey home. Now we must plan tomorrow's outings...

Roger Federer has just won the first set against Andreas Seppi of Italy at the Rome Open. All is well in this part of the world!

Lastly, thanks to Aunt Kathy, Jimbo, Toni, and Lex for posting comments!


ntheonThis second century marvel has been converted into a church