Contents
- Preface
- San Francisco
- Amsterdam
- Amsterdam, Helmond
- Amsterdam, Zandvoort, Haarlem
- Amsterdam, Bruges
- Bruges, Brussels, Cologne, Berlin
- Berlin
- Berlin, Potsdam
- Berlin, Wansee
- Berlin, Prague
- Prague
- Prague, Karlstejn, Vienna
- Vienna
- Vienna, Salzburg, Füssen
- Füssen, Neuschwanstein, Munich
- Munich, Innsbruck
- Innsbruck
- Innsbruck, Zürich, Lauterbrunnen
- Lauterbrunnen, Jungfraujoch
- Lauterbrunnen, Schilthorn
- Lauterbrunnen, Spiez, Zermatt
- Zermatt
- Zermatt, Martigny, Chamonix
- Chamonix, Mont Blanc
- Chamonix, Mont Blanc, Courmayeur, Aosta, Turin
- Barcelona
- Barcelona, Sitges
- Barcelona
- Milan, Venice
- Venice
- Venice
- Venice, Milan, Cinque Terre
- Cinque Terre, La Spezia
- Cinque Terre, Pisa, Lucca, Florence
- Florence
- Florence
- Florence, Siena
- Siena, San Gimignano, Rome
- Rome
- Rome
- Rome, Sorrento
- Sorrento, Vesuvius, Pompeii
- Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Ravello
- Sorrento, Capri, Naples
- Naples, Bari
- Patras, Athens, Mykonos
- Mykonos
- Mykonos
- Mykonos, Paros, Santorini
- Santorini
- Santorini, Athens
- Athens
- Athens, Amsterdam, San Francisco
Prev :: Tuesday, 11 October 2005 :: Next
40. Rome
Photo Gallery
This morning I headed out for the Borghese gallery. I knew I should have made a reservation for this a few days in advance, but I hadn't gotten round to it, so I decided just to show up and see what would happen. It's tricky to find. You come out of the metro station a long way from where the train stops at Spagna, and there aren't any signs. Walking out of the station, the museum is behind you, up the busy road and then straight onto a path through the park. I figured this out together with an equally lost woman from Moscow. Of course, there were no available spots when I arrived, and the only way to make a reservation was by phone, so that was irritating. At least I now knew how to find the place — I probably would have missed my reservation time if I hadn't known where to go. It took me some time to find a phone which accepted coins, but then I was able to get a reservation for the next morning.
Next I made my way west on the metro to the Vatican Museum. This had an astonishingly long line wrapped around the Vatican wall. The touts trying to sell their "tours" could have told me it was a three-hour wait, and I would have believed them. But they made the mistake of telling me the truth — 40 minutes — to which my response was "oh, is that all?" It does move quickly, but of course the price for that is that the museum is crowded inside, mainly with a huge number of tour groups. The museum is vast and thoroughly impressive. With everything from classical Roman sculpture and decaying Egyptian mummies to vigorous modern paintings, there is quite a variety of art to see, which was refreshing as I had become extremely tired of the ubiquitous medieval Madonna con Bambino. I kept saying to myself that if I ever saw another one, I would slit my throat! They're remarkably similar — flat with no depth or perspective, lots of gold. The mother is usually on the left, with a hand raised towards the child on the right. Her eyes are oddly narrow, her nose very long but shallow and flat. The face of the baby is all wrong — a miniaturized adult face with blond curly hair, it seems slightly monstrous.
A few hours and miles of corridors later, I was nearing the end of the Vatican Museum, walking through the beautiful Raphael rooms and into the Sistine Chapel. The crowds inside are massive, with a booming loudspeaker telling everyone in several languages to show some respect and be quiet. That works for a few minutes, until the volume rises and the process repeats. Michelangelo's ceiling depicting the Creation is of course stunning. Binoculars would be helpful; the ceiling is so high that the paintings appear rather small in the distance. On the wall is his grandiose, foreboding Last Judgment.
Despite having already walked so much today, I walked a lot more. First over to Piazza Navona to sample the "death by chocolate" (very good; maybe not worth going so far out of the way, though). Then I took part in the evening "Dolce Vita" stroll along Via Corso, hoping to pick up some of that chic Fellini vibe. Lots of clothing shops, but I never quite found anything I wanted as a replacement for the shirt I had lost in Füssen.
Dinner tonight was among the best of the trip, in the hip neighborhood of Trastevere south of the Vatican. It took me a while to find the place, but it's worth looking for the Ristorante Asinocotto — I had excellent wine and fish here. It's on a quiet street southeast of Piazza Santa Maria and the tram. After dinner I walked over to this lovely piazza and had fantastic ice cream nearby at Gelateria alla Scala. I managed to catch the tram part way back across town, and then a very crowded bus back to the station, from which I walked because the metro was already closed. Of course, at this point I noticed that the same tram line which goes through Trastevere also apparently passes right by San Giovanni! Should have investigated the transportation alternatives more carefully.