My, how time flies ...
Just five months ago (give or take a dozen time zones) I was having breakfast in the informal dining room of the Hotel Valadier, looking forward to a tour of the Galleria Borghese. What a killer day it turned out to be! The kind of day that drifts gently, allowing time to expand to encompass everything you want it to.
I haven't written about the Freedom Cruise we took last year - I should start recording some of the highlights as I go through my notes. But September 1, 2007 was especially delicious. Rose and I had morning reservations at the Borghese. We rented audio tour equipment and had the luxury of moving at our own pace, spending as much time as we wanted at the exhibits we particularly enjoyed.
In my case, I was absorbed by Bernini's "Apollo and Daphne". I won't attempt to describe it (Wikipedia does it well) and I don't have the breadth of experience to compare it to any other work. I just know I could have spent another hour walking around this one piece.
The Galleria is a palace now functioning as a museum and it is literally stuffed with marvelous art. Unfortunately a visitor is limited to just a few hours and by early afternoon we had to leave. If we are lucky enough to find Rome a destination again I'll certainly try to get back.
The weather was beautiful and we decided to walk part of the way back - then catch a cab to take us back to the hotel. We all had a late lunch at Il Brillo Parlente, had drinks afterward at the hotel, then L_H and I took a walk to check out the neighborhood and take some pictures of the Piazza del Popolo. While strolling we ran into John and Kathrina, a couple we had met the day before at the Pantheon.
John tries to visit Rome nearly every year and he's a veritable tourist guide. Thanks to the chance encounter we visited spots we might have skipped and learned more about the historic significance of the area. We stopped for gelato and agreed to meet for dinner. Rose and Dave hadn't met them yet but I knew they'd like them, too.
Before temporarily parting Kathrina and I went to decide where to eat. John and David are both in wheelchairs so we wanted somewhere that would be comfortable for all. We decided that the Rosati would be perfect and it turned out to be so. We met up at 8p and sat and ate, drank and talked until 10:30. Topics ranged from poetry to politics, law to undocumented aliens, travel to olive oil (John declared the Rosati had THE BEST he'd ever had). I think we could have gone another 4 hours but we knew we had to be up early the next day.
We were scheduled for an early pickup - 06:30 BC (before coffee) - so it was time to take a sleeping pill and put the day to bed.
I haven't written about the Freedom Cruise we took last year - I should start recording some of the highlights as I go through my notes. But September 1, 2007 was especially delicious. Rose and I had morning reservations at the Borghese. We rented audio tour equipment and had the luxury of moving at our own pace, spending as much time as we wanted at the exhibits we particularly enjoyed.
In my case, I was absorbed by Bernini's "Apollo and Daphne". I won't attempt to describe it (Wikipedia does it well) and I don't have the breadth of experience to compare it to any other work. I just know I could have spent another hour walking around this one piece.
The Galleria is a palace now functioning as a museum and it is literally stuffed with marvelous art. Unfortunately a visitor is limited to just a few hours and by early afternoon we had to leave. If we are lucky enough to find Rome a destination again I'll certainly try to get back.
The weather was beautiful and we decided to walk part of the way back - then catch a cab to take us back to the hotel. We all had a late lunch at Il Brillo Parlente, had drinks afterward at the hotel, then L_H and I took a walk to check out the neighborhood and take some pictures of the Piazza del Popolo. While strolling we ran into John and Kathrina, a couple we had met the day before at the Pantheon.
John tries to visit Rome nearly every year and he's a veritable tourist guide. Thanks to the chance encounter we visited spots we might have skipped and learned more about the historic significance of the area. We stopped for gelato and agreed to meet for dinner. Rose and Dave hadn't met them yet but I knew they'd like them, too.
Before temporarily parting Kathrina and I went to decide where to eat. John and David are both in wheelchairs so we wanted somewhere that would be comfortable for all. We decided that the Rosati would be perfect and it turned out to be so. We met up at 8p and sat and ate, drank and talked until 10:30. Topics ranged from poetry to politics, law to undocumented aliens, travel to olive oil (John declared the Rosati had THE BEST he'd ever had). I think we could have gone another 4 hours but we knew we had to be up early the next day.
We were scheduled for an early pickup - 06:30 BC (before coffee) - so it was time to take a sleeping pill and put the day to bed.