Rome: Days 1 and 2

After arriving on the train in the late afternoon, we took a pre-arranged car to the apartments. Jim, Barbara, Ana and I then went out for dinner to an Irish pub. The food was quite good and the beers were great!

The next morning started with a trip to the Galleria Borghese, which dates from the early 1600's. Its original owner, Scipione Borghese, was a Cardinal in the Catholic church (and a nephew of the Pope) and an early patron of the sculptor Bernini.

Ana and I each got the audio tour guide for the museum and it was full of interesting information. For example, we heard that the wall sculpture below is a combination of an ancient Greek horse with a rider carved by Bernini's father. That practice of "enhancing" classical works of art was apparently commonplace in the 17th century.

We also heard the story of two Bernini busts of Cardinal Borghese. When the first was nearly complete, the sculptor found a natural crack in the marble that ran through the forehead.

He finished the bust anyway and then carved a replacement. The story has it that the copy only took three days!

While the current collection is impressive, it used to be much more so. In the early 1800's, the then owner, who was Napoleon's brother-in-law, was forced to sell the Roman sculptures and antiquities in the collection to Napoleon at fire sale prices.

In the afternoon Barbara had arranged a tour guide for us to escort us through the Vatican museum, the Sistine Chapel, and Saint Peter's. Ciarla was great. She new what rooms to take us to in the enormous collection. She also provided context for what we would eventually see in Michaelangelo's paintings in the chapel. My favorite room was the one that used to be a library where Raphael's "School of Athens" was on one of the walls:

After the Vatican museum, we stopped by the Sistine Chapel (no photos permitted). We then went to St. Peter's itself, where we say Michaelangelo's famous Pieta (now protected with a glass shield wall). 

For me the most impressive thing about St. Peter's is the sheer scale of the building.

We walked back to the apartments from there and went out to dinner. Since it was a Friday night, we were lucky to find a nice restaurant (Il Fico) near the apartment. Ana had "sea bream" and pronounced it "excellent". I thought I was ordering a daily special, but the waiter understood it to be one of the regular menu items. It was marinated steak. While more than I wanted to spend, it was also excellent.