Galleria Borghese

As you may remember we had reservations for a Friday afternoon visit to the Galleria Borghese, one of Rome's most treasured art galleries. While most galleries don't require reservations, there is a reason this one does. It is extremely popular, and rightly so. We were nothing less than stunned as we wandered through the gorgeous villa that houses the works of some of Italy's most famous artists.

We decided to rent the audio guides that are available, because although we are trying to become more cultured, we aren't there yet, and the audio guides provide very interesting information about the author, the works, and the history behind both. We were truly in awe over the sculptures of Bernini, most notably "Pluto and Proserpina", and "Apollo and Daphne". The way an arist is able to take a slab of rock and create human emotions and tiny lifelike details is nothing less than extraordinary.

We were also quite taken with the paintings of Caravaggio, inparticular "David with the Head of Goliath". This painting is a portrait of a young David holding the bloodied decapitated head of the giant Goliath, and one secret we learned from our audio guide is that the portrait of Goliath's head is actually a self-portrait of Caravaggio. This is only part of the story, it gets more distrubing. He painted this portrait as an admission and an apology to the government for a murder he had committed and was currently fleeing from. He wanted to be granted a pardon and allowed to return home. He was granted the pardon, but unfortunately he died before he was given the good news that his "apology" had worked.

Not only was the Borghese Villa filled with wonderful, priceless works of art, but the villa itself is a spectacular sight, wonderfully decorated with stunning frescoes and statues that compliment the featured art pieces. It was very interesting to learn how the Borghese family was able to use their power and influence to basically steal or blackmail people into giving up their art. They were, unfortunately for the Italians, beaten at their own game by Napoleon, and so many of the pieces that were originally in the collection now reside at the Louvre in Paris.

After our trip to the gallery we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather we were blessed with, and to do some more sightseeing. We had already been to the Pantheon, but at the time we weren't armed with our camera, so this time we were ready. The Pantheon is one of Rome's most well-preserved pieces of architecture, and it is amazing. There are a couple of pictures under "Scenery" for you to check out.

Near the Pantheon there are two coffee bars that are very famous, and they have an even more famous rivalry with one another. Charles read an article about this recently and has wanted to investigate for himself for some time. Now, if you know Allie, you know that she hates anything related to coffee, even things with the slightest hint of coffee flavor repulse her. Well, this has begun to change. Coffee is very much a part of the culture here, and students often offer us coffees as a gesture of friendship, so you can imagine how rude she feels trying to explain (to uncomprehending and unbelieving ears) that she doesn't drink coffee. So lately she's been downing the thimble sized shots of espresso and chasing them with water or tictacs to remove the flavor. All of this forced coffee ingestion has begun to wear on her tastebuds, and she has developed a small taste for the bitter treat that is so important here.

So, needless to say, she agreed to the coffee tasting. We decided to choose only one of the coffee bars for this day, being as two shots of espresso in a short time would keep us up all night. We chose Sant'Eustacchio. Their rival, Tazzo d'Oro (translation: Golden Cup) claims that they blend their beans with additives such as cream or chocolate, and that this practice means their roast is inferior, because it is impure. Well, we tasted two versions of their coffee; the house special, Gran Caffe, and a plain old shot of espresso. Both were surprisingly sweet (we later learned that they add sugar unless you request it otherwise), but quite good. We will update you when we have tasted the flavors of Tazzo d'Oro.

After our coffee tasting we wanted to find a gelato shop to clean our palates, and there is no shortage of gelateria in the area of the Pantheon. We found a small shop off the beaten path and shared a cup of half chocolate, half heaven. I can't remember the name of the other flavor, but it had ribbons of Nutella in it, and it was so delicious. We inhaled our little cup in no time and were left wishing for more.

After this it was time to head home for a nice dinner and some good sleep to start our weekend. In summary, we highly recommend Galleria Borghese, in fact, when you come visit us we'll get your reservations all taken care of for you! Notice I said "when" you come visit, not "if"!!