The Borghese Gallery and Villa

We had 1:00 tickets for the Borghese Gallery today. Tickets give you 2 hours to be there and after that, maybe someone kicks you out. We did find out these people are serious about tickets.

The Borghese is in another part of town so we had to take two buses each way. A couple of times, we actually got seats. Rides on these buses are far from smooth. We planned to go early in the case they would let us in, but if not, we would walk around the gardens which are huge and beautiful. We got there around 12:10 and unfortunately, today has been very windy and chilly. We went in the entry door and were turned away and scowled at by a woman who told us we had to check our bags downstairs--yes, even purses. So stupidly, we did that and then took our reservation voucher and got the official tickets. We went back upstairs, only to be turned away again because our tickets said 1:00. So we went downstairs, got our purses, and had a little lunch (ham and cheese panini and cappuccino. Then we checked our bags again and went back upstairs. No one was being let in because it was now 12:55. Promptly at 1:00, the whole crowd was allowed to enter.

As it turns out, they actually have a good plan. The crowd was not huge and you could actually see all the art. Unfortunately, we were under the impression cameras were banned but they weren't. Hence, we have no pictures, but as usual, you can see good pictures by looking it up on Wikipedia. Some of  famous artists represented include Bernini sculptures and paintings, Carravagio, Rubens, Titian, Raphael. The sculptures are fabulous. Had I had my camera, though, I would have probably taken a picture of every ceiling in every room. They are magnificent. There were explanations about each room but none of them said who painted the ceilings. The mosaic floors are also fabulous. Here's the outside of the building:

The Borghese Gallerie

This fountain is right outside the gallery on the way to the gardens:

Fountain Face Dude

Here's a view of the main path leading through the gardens which consist of approximately 140 acres. There's fountains and statues within it and we saw people being driven around in golfcarts.A little cold to enjoy today but it's probably popular in the summer.

Borghese Gardens

On the way back, we decided to stop in the church at Chiesa Nuovo which is a short walk from the apartment. It seems every neighborhood church in Rome has a Carravaggio:

and also one of those domes with the little dome skylight:

Tomorrow is our last day in Rome and then it's on to Florence.