Friday, May 5
Today we went off in search of sculptures by Bernini. We had reservations for the Borghese Museum, where we had seen Apollo and Daphne 4 years ago, and we wanted to go back. First, we went in search of an even more famous statue, St. Teresa in Ecstasy in a church.
The outing started with a bus adventure. It’s not clear where you get tickets. Once you get tickets the machine doesn’t work. Then the bus goes for a few stops and everyone has to get off for some unknown reason (though the police are questioning passengers). Welcome to Italy! We figured with technology we wouldn’t have problems figuring out public transportation as we did in the 70s. Wrong.
We finally made it to the central train station. We knew the church was nearby. But so are a lot of other churches! We finally found it and some other magnificent Baroque churches.
The Borghese Museum was even more overwhelming than we remembered. There are Roman sculptures jammed around each room, not even identified. Paintings everywhere, even on the ceiling. Apollo and Daphne appear as the Bernini sculpture, and above it in a painting on the ceiling.
In the evening we went to a neighborhood restaurant and found ourselves in the midst of the evening passeggiata, which is somewhat like cruising on foot. A fire dancer/acrobat entertained the crowds.