Rome - Vatican museums, Villa Borghese and the best tiramisu

On Rosh Hashana I took myself to Rome. Spent two very nice days over there.

I flew over with Meridiana - an airline I hadn't used until now, which turned out to be a cheap and reliable airline (although maybe two flights are not enough of an indication).

Together with a friend from the embassy we had pre-booked a visit to the Villa Borghese and a guided tour of the Vatican Museums (which includes also easy entrance to the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica, which, if you recall, I tried to visit in May but didn't feel like waiting on an hour long line to enter).

For the Villa Borghese one needs to book a visit about a week in advance. People are let in in batches every two hours. We picked up our tickets half an hour before entering (as required). What we were not told is that we would have been better off depositing our bags at the same time (every kind of bag, even small ones), because towards the entry hour a long line of people wait to deposit their bag. We ended up waiting on the wardrobe line for about 15 min. because of this.

The Gallery is beautiful and houses some very impressive sculptures by Bernini (I especially liked the one in which Daphne is escaping from Apollo - by having herself turned into a tree...) and Canova (who's sculptures I'd also seen in Milan but wasn't that impressed with them there, they somehow seem more at home in the Villa Borghese), some lovely pictures of Carravagio (especially this one in which a young man/boy is seen holding a basket of fruit) and a wonderful picture of Correggio's - Danae, which is currently in Parma (and which I had seen when I visited there). I just found a good link to the exhibition on Correggio which I saw in Parma (and was previously in the Villa Borghese) with a picture of the Danae and other beautiful works by Correggio.

Sorry for not putting in my own pictures here but sending you off to links - this is because I was not allowed to take my camera into the villa.

After the Villa we went up to the Janiculum for a panoramic view of Rome (with a special bus (but which is part of the public transportation system) that is designed to be able to negotiate the small streets of Rome). The view is quite beautiful although I still think it's more interesting from the top of the Vittoriano - because the monuments and points of interest are closer there. Here are two pictures from the Janiculum:

In the evening we went to have tiramisu in Pompi which is considered to be one of the best places for this in Rome. It sure was good.... (after ice cream, I think tiramisu is one of the best desserts imaginable).

The next day we went to the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. These three places house some of the finest art from the Renaissance period which tends to leave you speechless it is so wonderful, creative, and somehow new, in spite of the fact that the art works were created approx. 500 years ago. Also, there are some fine examples of sculptures from the Greek and Roman period used by the Renaissance artists as their models for their own sculptures (since they had to re-learn how to sculpt in marble and create real-life sculptures, knowledge that was mostly forgotten during the middle ages).

The guided tour was excellent. Without it you can get a bit lost amid the vast amount of pictures, frescoes, sculptures and other works of art. Here are pictures of my two favorite sculptures Artemis (on the left) and the Belvedere Torso (on the right):




I also liked this sculpture but unfortunately I don't remember what it's called and also didn't find it on the internet.... (if anybody knows what it's called and can update me - let me know):

We then moved on to the Raphael rooms. The colors of his paintings are wonderful, as are his characters and the play of light and dark. Here are some pictures I took of the paintings on the walls:

This is the Parnassus - Apollo with the muses.

The school of Athens - in which Raphael painted many contemporary artists as philosophers from the Greek period. In front there is a bearded guy wearing purple - this is believed to be Michelangelo who was not originally supposed to be in the picture but whom Raphael added after seeming some of his work. This figure is believed to have inspired Rodin in his creation of his "Thinker".

Raphael also drew himself at the very side of the school of Athens picture among some other artists of his period (probably a sign of humility in the presence of the other great artists, a gesture which I liked). He's the guy in the black hat looking at the viewers.

In case you're having trouble seeing things in my pictures (which should be clickable - creating larger images) - see also this link.

We then went on to the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's. I hadn't been to the Sistine Chapel after the restoration of the frescoes. The end result is spectacular. The colors are magnificent and the pictures are wonderful (and there aren't enough adjectives to describe these frescoes without sounding banal and overused...).

We finished our tour in St. Peter's. I somehow remembered it differently. But it is still grand and as in my previous visit there many years ago (1990) I still like the way the light comes into the church and lights it up (many churches here tend to be dark and gloomy which I don't like that much). I'll end with a picture I took of Michelangelo's first Pieta. The Pieta is behind glass to protect it following an attempt by some crazy person to hack it to bits at some point. I had a glorious visit to the eternal city of Rome. If you haven't been - go, if you have - I hope you enjoyed my take on it.