There are so many things to see in Rome and although I knew that I couldn`t see everything, I still wanted to see as much as possible. In addition, I desperately needed some time for myself. And the light in the morning is really good for photographing. So I dragged myself out of bed to get the first bus around 5.30.
The weather startet out really well, but as soon as I walked up the Pincio the rain suddenly started to pour down and I got wet to the bone. But at least it was not cold. As soon as I dared to take my camera out of my bag, I took some photos of the really nice park Galleria Borghese.
By going to the Galleria Borgehese this early, I was aiming at seeing the Vatican in the light of the sunrise. Due to the weather that was not
possible, but still the view was great.
There were only a few people in the park, mostly joggers. I had a funny encounter, though. While I was taking photos at the view point, there came a man who looked really tired and who was also holding his camera. We spoke a bit, he told me he had arrived just the day before and was going to stay only two days. And after speaking for a while (in English) we suddenly realised, that we both were from German speaking countries - he came from Austria.
We walked to the Villa Medici together, where he stayed while I walked on to the church Trinità dei Monti (below).
A view over the roofs of Rome... I really like those little roof gardens. The Spanish Steps are being repaired at the moment, so no nice picture here...
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| Piazza di Spagna at 7.00 a.m. |
At 8:30 we arrived at the Villa Borghese. If you want to go there, you have to book tickets in advance, because there are no more than 200 people at the same time allowed in the museum. So you book tickets for a certain time and then you have two hours to visit the museum.The small fountain on the left stands right in front of the Villa and contains the dragon and the eagle, the two animals that are also shown in the emblem of the Borghese family.
The Galleria Borghese was the most important museum in Rome for me. I adore the work of Caravaggio. His use of light an shadow and the liveliness, realness of the people in his paintings always render me speachless. Then there are all the stories about him, the scandals he caused. It was a special feeling to see his work in reality. On the left you can see his "Madonna with the snake" as an example. But I really suggest you look him up. "The Boy with a basket of food", or "David with the head of Goliath" are also very interesting and there is a lot more.We owe the collection of art in the Galleria Borghese to a certain cardinal Scipione Borghese who, sometimes under dubious conditions, composed a variety of paintings and sculptures to his liking in his villa. It was sometimes bad for the people who were in posession of a piece of art that he wanted, but it is good for us now, because the collection is really amazing. Even though Napoleon took lots of antique statues to Paris.
Two hours is not much time, but since the museum is rather small, you can see almost everything. It is important though, to know what you want to see before you go there. And it really is an advantage that the place is not that crowded.
Just look at these amazing works of Bernini! All the details. The marble looks like it is alive.
There are still lots of antique sculptures left, despite Napoleon. The crossed out circles next to the name of the gladiator in the mosaic below says that he died during the fight, by the way.
The story behind this sculpture on the left, the one with the horse, is quite funny. The horse itself is antique, but the rider was missing. So Bernini`s father was comissioned to add a new rider and he turned the whole sculptural group into the representation of a Roman story, where a soldier leaps into a hole in the ground with his horse and armour to save his people.
The weather hadn`t improved since morning. Just look at this photo of St Peter`s Square, taken on that day.
After that we took the Metro to a church, out of the city centre. It`s called S. Paolo fuori le mura. After a fire, most parts of the church had to be rebuilt. But there are some old mosaics left.
The mosaic in the apse is one of the remains from the old church. It is from the 5th century.
The weather improved a bit and we climbed the Aventino, one of the seven hills. There is a keyhole, where you can see the St. Peter`s Basilica when you look through it. When the sun came out, it was suddenly very hot.
When we were done with looking, there arrived a whole bus with people and suddenly there was a long queue in front of the door. 
After a short walk we came to another view point. Next to a small church there was a park with orange trees. But unfortunately all the lower branches were empty...
It wasn`t raining for a while and I enjoyed the walk down to the Circo Massimo alongside the roses.
The next stop was Trastevere. A nice quarter where it looks a lot like I expect places in Italy to look like.
After eating ice cream and walking around for a bit, we ate pizza in a small restaurant. I love Italian pizza. I don`t think I can ever get enough of it!
And we found a small biscuit shop which seemed to be an insider tip. I can`t tell you if they were good though, because unfortunately I couldn`t eat any of them.
After a quick change of shoes and clothing in the hotel, I spent the rest of the evening with a twenty-minute-walk to the Quartiere Coppedè. The architecture around the frog fountain is really special. It is a mixture of baroque and art nouveau. I´ve never seen anything like that before and I don`t know how to describe it... Just look at the pictures to get an impression.
So, that was the third day of my Rome trip. Still one and a half days left...
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