Wednesday, July 20th:
St. Peter's Basilica, and the massive expanse of Rome from Pincio Park:
Wow. Rome truly is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Never have I seen such a place where civilization has just kept building and building right on top of itself to the point where a building only five years old can be standing next to one that is two thousand years old! Max and I slept in this morning and I headed out by myself to explore the city as Max was feeling a bit under the weather. This time I decided to walk to the north of our hostel, instead of west towards the center of Ancient Rome. On my way I grabbed a couple of pizza slices right next to the Trevi Fountain, which looks quite different but still beautiful by day as opposed to by night.
The Spanish Steps:
I continued to walk north and up a massive hill to the famed Spanish steps. The roses that normally line the steps in the spring were not there, but the steps are still quite a cool site, even if it is swarmed with tourists and people peddling useless toys, wares, and fake designer accessories. After exploring that area for a bit, I continued passed the Villa Medici and into the massive Villa Borghese park (also known as Pincio Park). This park serves as Rome’s version of New York City’s Central Park, complete with roads, tunnels, and vast fields to sunbath and get some exercise. I walked through the park for a long while until I came upon the Galleria Borghese museum. I had heard that it was one of the tougher tickets to get in Rome as the amount of visitors inside for a given time slot are limited, so I went inside to try and reserve a time slot for later in the week. I was delighted and surprised to be told that they had an opening for one person for the current time slot, so I hurried right inside.
The Galleria Borghese:
The Galleria Borghese is the most magnificent museum I have ever been inside. It is not very expansive, nor is it filled to the brim with artifacts, but it is set up in such a perfect manner of exclusivity, neatness, and beauty. The museum itself is actually the castle-like mansion of the Borghese family and the art is of the family’s personal collection, offering viewers the chance to see famous works in the spaces they were originally designed for. Each room on the first floor offers a ceiling covered in frescoes, marble and mosaic art floors, and a marble sculpture in the middle of the large expanse. The Borghese family was a major fan and patron of the sculptor Bernini, and five of his most famous works are in the family’s collection on display in their gallery. My favorite of them was the extremely detailed sculpture of Apollo and Daphne as she turns into a tree to avoid Apollo’s lust and love for her. The upstairs of the gallery contains rooms full of paintings, mostly from the Italian Renaissance. Famous artists on display include Caravaggio, Titian, Raphael, and Rubens.
Piazza del Popolo:
Upon leaving the Borghese museum, I met up with Max and walked down the Spanish steps to Piazza del Popolo. Here we took in the bustling Roman atmosphere in one of the city’s busiest squares while drinking a couple Peronis and reading the news. We talked to some locals and even got to watch as a scene from an Italian movie was being filmed in the square. We waited until dark, grabbed a cappuccino, and walked back towards the Spanish Steps for dinner. The stores in the area around the steps are very high fashion, but we were able to find an amazing affordable restaurant called Il Gabriello. It was much like the restaurant from the first night, deep in a cool basement filled with Enoteca décor. I enjoyed a feast of Proscuitto, Risotto with Prawns, Veal in a white wine sauce, and a vanilla gelato truffle for dessert. We both washed down our meals with a bottle of Pinot Grigio from the Venezia region of Italy.
The Italian Flag at Night Atop the Palazzo del Quirinale:
We walked back to our hostel again through another area we had not been to before, the piazza in front of the Palazzo del Quirinale, where the Italian president resides. The palace was massive and very pretty at night, but also under necessary tight security with armed guards at all entrances. We wandered our way back to our hostel to get some early shut-eye for the very long day ahead. Tomorrow we will tackle the massive church, palace, holy site, and small country that are the Vatican City.
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