We woke up early the next day, a bright Sunday morning, with ambitious plans. After
eating some of our groceries from the previous day (thereby saving several Euros) and
getting dressed, we crossed the mostly deserted Piazza Navona to reach a Tourist
Information kiosk just off the piazza's northern end. Our motivation for doing this was
to buy Roma Passes for everybody. A Roma Pass is a
card, much like the Arte Card we'd used in Naples, which can be used for free entry to
two Roman attractions, followed by discounts to many others. It's also good for free
public transportation around central Rome. But it's only good for three days. We
planned on getting our money's worth.
Our first destination was to be the
Borghese Gallery, well to
the north and east of the Piazza Navona. To visit the Borghese Gallery, one must first
make an appointment for a specific time. We had done so from home, making an appointment
for 10:30. By the time we'd acquired our Roma Passes, we had less than an hour to reach
the gallery. There are buses that go there from the Piazza Navona area, but they are
somewhat indirect and leave less frequently on Sunday mornings. So we had a choice of
waiting for the bus and maybe getting there on time, or walking and definitely getting
there on time. It was a pretty substantial (and uphill) walk, but by this part of the
trip we were in pretty decent shape, so we decided to walk. We were helped by cutting
through the Spagna Metro station, which had some moving sidewalks and escalators, and
we arrived with time to spare.
Bob on Escalator, Spagna Metro Station
The Borghese Gallery is housed in the Villa Borghese, which was originally built for
Cardinal Scipione Borghese in the 17th Century. The collection of paintings and sculptures
is terrific, but you'll have to take our word for it. Many
Italian tourist attractions have no-photography policies, but some don't enforce them very
aggressively (or at all, sometimes). At the Borghese Gallery, they are serious about it.
Visitors are required to check-in anything they are carrying, including all camera bags and
purses, and then they are put through a metal detector to make sure nothing is missed.
You can check out some of the artwork on the Borghese Gallery web site.
Borghese Gallery
Nella and Connie, Borghese Gallery
In Front of Borghese Gallery
Philip and Connie
The Borghese Gallery is situated in the Villa Borghese Gardens, an immense area atop the
Pincian Hill that was landscaped at the same time the Villa was built. After our visit
to the Gallery, we headed westward though the Gardens, enjoying the shade, greenery and
statuary we encountered along the way.
Statue of Goethe
Tourist Train
Pinciano Obelisk (Commissioned by Emperor Hadrian)
View of Piazza del Popolo
Balcony, Pincian Hill
Eventually we reached our next destination, the Piazza del Popolo.