Daphne and Apollo

This is one of Bernini's most beautiful works: the moment when Apollo reaches out to grab Daphne who doesn't want to be grabbed and she begins to turn into a tree. You can see branches and leaves sprouting from her finger tips,  roots growing from her toes and the bark creeping up her body. Maybe she could have given Apollo a chance; he looks like a nice young man. Not like the guy in the other room, smirking Pluto who is making off with a tearful Proserpine, digging his hands into her flesh to hold her. Gee, two depictions of glorified, diefied, rape.
This was at the Borghese Gallery, one of the superstar museums of Rome. It's hard to get tickets for, hard to get to, you only get 2 hours to look at the art and when you get there you have to leave all your bags and purses behind. Yet they let you bring you camera in. I really appreciated that but it seemed so 21st century.

Is it a Pig? Is it a Chicken?

No, it's Bernini's Elephant obelisk,  but it was called by those names for many years. Supposedly,  the pig elephant is waving his tail to the side as a rude salute to one of the priest in the monastery who messed with Bernini's design.
All of this is going on behind the Pantheon,  technically a church but in my eyes still a Roman temple of perfect proportions. 

Today was a church day. Carmen gorged on the sight of 3 Carravaggio's, all in one church, and I snuck in some over the top ceilings. Went home early. It's getting time to pack.

The Elusive Art of Doing Nothing

We still haven't mastered this art form. Instead, with only 6 days left to our Italian trip, we are hungry to get the last bits of Rome, before we go. At the top of the street, near the Coloseum, is Hadrian's Column, the first graphic novel, with Hadrian's adventures spiraling up from the base. Then, after a harrowing adventure of our own, called "Crossing the Street", which involved a lot of arm pulling across Piazza Veneto, we went to the twin Palazzos that make up the Capitoline Museum. There we saw more Carravaggio's, a writhing Medusa head by Bernini,  and many Greek and Roman gods and goddesses.  After that we returned to our favorite restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto.  Today, Silvio recommended Puntarelle, a chicory like green with garlic and anchovy dressing. We plan to go back there on our last day. Maybe by then we'll be better at nothing.

The Piazza Navona

We had a big day planned as our Italian trip winds down, but somehow we never got out of the Piazza Navona area. Two Bernini fountains (ok, he just touched up one) and the Piazza itself is majestically shaped. It was quite serene, till the tour groups showed up. Luckily we had come early and spent quality time with Berni, enjoying his writhing dolphins and cavorting sea creatures. Afterwards we wandered the narrow dark streets around the Piazza and discovered this porchetta place, a whole roasted pig, stuffed with herbs. We had to share a panini.
More wandering. More promises to eventually get around to all that is on our to do list. Maybe we will. Maybe we won't.

Old in Rome

Today was part two of ancient Rome with a visit to the Coluseum. Is it fun to imagine Romans enjoying the sight of naked people being torn to bits by animals? If you were a Roman in those days you got a free ticket to the Coloseum, so really, with nothing better to do on the weekends you might as well go and watch the gladiators fight to the death, or vote with your thumb and let them live.
Remember, Coloseums don't kill people. People kill people, as do hungry lions. Afterwards, I finally found wood fired pizza and it really was crispy and delicious, made all the more so by the free limoncello our waiter gave us, along with a good bye kiss!
For cultural dessert, we went across the street to the Capuchin crypt,  where dead monks and their bones were artistically arranged. Carmen found it a bit too Christian, but I was really into it.
And the topper, better (and sexier) then the waiter's kiss, we also happened upon Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Theresa. An angel smiles down at her swooning body as he plunges an arrow into her heart.

Trying to do nothing in Rome

Today was a day that we planned to do nothing. We were going to just get on a bus and ride around the city. But our plans went awry before we even got to the bus stop.
As we were walking down the street we passed a nondescript little church. Really nothing to look at from the outside. I don't know why Carmen said we could go in. She's gotten very strict about how many churches she will tolerate. But it was her idea. It turned out this was San Clemente,  a 12th century church with intricate mosaics, on top of a 4th century church, on top of a temple to the Persian god, Mithras from the 1st to 3rd century. Thank god Carmen had her cane.
After that we continued on our way to the Coluseum but it was a madhouse there, all the buses stuffed with tourists and people going to work. We decided to take the subway instead to an unknown stop.
But I guess there are no unknown stops in the center of Rome. We ended up at the Piazza del Poppolo,  where another church, this one Baroque to the gills held two significant Carravaggio's that were on Carmen's artistic wish list.
After a very expensive lunch of Salimboca, penne arrabiata and salad, all squisiti,  we had to see the Trevi fountain, all the more amusing for being dry and covered with scaffolding....and handsome workmen chipping away at it.
On the way to the metro we happened upon Bernini's Triton Fountain, by accident of course.