WELL!! Definitely no regrets!! The Colosseum was grand and a fast visit - we went the first Sunday of the month, which was fairly ridiculous, because it's free to the public, and it was a total swarm. We did NOT stay long!! Anyway, we weren't able to get the guided tour booked, and without one, it's really just a giant and impressive ruin, not a lot to ponder for us. And it was HOT.
Yes, we were accosted by Gladiators before we even got there, but that was okay, no big deal, and I didn't give them very much. It was amusing.
The walk to the Colosseum itself was very interesting. I never pictured that the ruins would be scattered right in the middle of the city, somehow. They're all right there, in these little valleys. It's rather extraordinary.
We didn't have a guided tour going on here, so I really don't have a ton to say. It's as huge as I thought it would be.
We didn't even go down there....isn't that weird? But you can't get everywhere and do everything, and the Borghese Gallery was so much more important to us than combing through the ruins of the Forum.
Still, we had time for a little prowl around.
And then it was off to the Borghese. We were GOING to take a bus, but we were having trouble catching the right one, and I didn't want to be late, so we hopped in a cab, and ten minutes later, there we were, staring at Bernini statues in awe.
The Rape of Proserpina
Can you believe this is marble? It was absolutely breathtaking.
The facial expressions were just so compelling....
All the details, everywhere.....we couldn't stop looking, couldn't walk away, for the longest time.
Look at her hair! How did he do that???
Apollo and Daphne
This is Caroline's shot, with the painting inspired by the sculpture on the ceiling above, and she's very proud of it.
Bernini's David - we saw so many Davids. This is absolutely one of my favourites, though. I love his face, and I love the energy of the posture. Now, of course, Michelangelo's David was already the biggest thing in Italian sculpture, and Bernini was in competition for something completely different. This is David in full action, and we are completely drawn into the drama of it all.
I finally decided that this ceiling wasn't going to be good enough unless I lay down on the floor to photograph it. I would have been trampled to death had I tried that at the Vatican, but here, I was safe.
Caravaggio's St. Jerome (1605-1606).
This is a Bernini, but I wouldn't have actually thought so. It's Aeneas, Anchises and Ascanius. This was Bernini's first commissioned work, and he was only 20. Compare this to the Rape of Prosperpina (Pluto and Proserpine) when he was 23....astonishing.
This is Bernini's Truth Unveiled by Time. It's incomplete. It should have a figure for Time in the upper corner, but it isn't there; he never finished it.
Hermaphodite, 1st C. A.D. copy of an original by Polycles, from 150 B.C.
Ceiling painting - G. Hamilton, The Death of Paris
One of many Judith and Holofernes....they are EVERYWHERE in Italy!! This isn't Caravaggio's, though...I have to look, surely I photographed that one...This is Fede Galizia's (female artist, 1596).
I didn't get the name of this one down, and I can't find it at all. I liked her very much, but I don't know who she is or the name of the artist.
Raphael's Lady with a Unicorn (1506). This wasn't attributed to Raphael until 1934 or so.
We were trying to get back into the centre via the Spanish Steps, and got a little turned around, but we finally found them. We knew we were heading in the right direction when we saw the scaffolding....
Yes, even the Spanish Steps had scaffolding close enough to get in the way of a photo. Frankly, we didn't quite see what all the fuss was about anyway, but here we are - we were there.
Somehow, without quite intending to do so, we ended up walking all the way home to our B&B near the Vatican from the Galleria Borghese. We did stop for an (utterly unremarkable) dinner on the way back. Here we are crossing one of the bridges across the Tiber.
It was a long walk, and Caroline's feet were very hot and tired...but I still couldn't dare her successfully to stick her feet in the fountain.
"These bloody tourists...."
The Castle!! We would be heading back there soon after freshening up!
Once we had freshened up, it was time to head back to the Castle - which was only a short distance away, cutting through St. Peter's Square.
This is the "secret passage" (not secret at all) going between the Vatican and the Castle.
Believed to be the original burial place of Emperor Hadrian.
Wee prison cells. Not the fancy, political prisoner cells. The ordinary people kind of cells.
They had a neat system for bringing oil and wine in through the ceiling into giant pots that were placed in these holes.
After the tour, there was a concert, in the courtyard of the castle. It was...magical.
We explored a little bit more before leaving.
The view from the rooftop, all over Rome, was spectacular. There were even fireworks happening waay, way off in the distance.
St. Peter's from the Castle.
And before we really left, we had to look at the angels on the bridge. I did photograph every one of them, but I will spare you that...
How gorgeous is this?
We finished our night with a quick gelato and a walk home through St. Peter's, knowing that in the morning, we'd be pushing on and leaving Rome for Sorrento.
It was hard to leave.
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