On Wednesday, Aunt Patti and I woke up, got ready, and headed to the Galleria Borghese. It is an art gallery that is housed where the Borghese family had lived for many years and where Cardinal Scipione Borghese started the collection. There were so many beautiful paintings and sculptures, but my favorite was by far The Rape of Proserpina. It is a sculpture of Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld, capturing Proserpina, daughter of Ceres, and taking her back down with him to the underworld. The myth says that her mother was able to get permission for her daughter to come back to earth for half a year every year, and that is why in spring we have flowers because it is the earth welcoming her back. It was done by Bernini and was so detailed it was unbelievable. I am amazed with his ability to sculpt.
After getting a tour of the gallery, Patti and I rented this two person, side-by-side bike contraption with a roof over it and rode around the rest of the grounds exploring for an hour. It was a large property and there were a few different roads to choose from to explore. We went pretty much every way and after seeing the majority of the grounds, we turned in our ride and then had a cocktail and a sandwich at this really cute outdoor bar on the grounds.
We relaxed for a little while there and then went to the Spanish Steps. They are huge and beautiful, much like everything else that I was in awe about on this trip! We took pictures there and went inside the church at the top. After looking at the beautiful paintings on the walls inside, we checked out the area a little more, found a restaurant that Patti's friends recommended, even though it was not open yet so we did not eat there, and then took a cab back to our hotel. The cab driver drove us right past Piazza della Repubblica, which was one of the few places we had not seen on our own yet. So we were excited about that!
When we got back to our hotel, we went up to the roof, of course, for another cocktail and then headed around the corner for dinner. It was a cute little place about three minutes walking distance and the food was delicious! Our new bartender friend from the roof had suggested it to us and we thanked him for it when we saw him the next evening.
I think I fell asleep pretty early again that night because I was exhausted! Such a great time :-)
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