Today started out pretty poorly for me. I woke up feeling
great at 7 and was at breakfast by 7:15. I ate a little bit then made my
sandwiches for lunch. As I was walking out with these sandwiches not discreetly
tucked under my arm, I grabbed a donut to eat in my room as I got ready even
more. The guy working the breakfast buffet saw me and stopped me and tried to
get my room number but I basically told him that I was going to eat these
things in my room and that I didn’t want to sit down there anymore. He didn’t
say “okay you can go” or anything, I kind of just walked away. We all know he’s
been watching us take sandwiches this week, he just needed an idiot like me to
give him a time to say something. So I came back to my room feeling like a
total dummy, hoping he didn’t say anything to anyone else. He did. So we’re
done taking sandwiches from there for lunch. But we only have 2 days left here
so whatever.
So after that I just felt weird and sad for a while. We met
at 8 and got in taxis to go to the Borghese for our 8:30 ticket time. As we
stood outside discussing the history of the building and of the museum, it
began raining. So we quickly ran into the line to get inside, with people
butting us left and right. As we were just about to go through the doorway, Dr.
Zaho put her arms in front of the people who skipped and made sure we all got
in first. Once we were in, the woman in front of us began chatting with us. She
was from Wisconsin, traveling with her 14-year-old son. This kid did not look
14; he looked at least 17. We all commented on his appearance while Dr. Zaho
was like, “Take it easy Mom! Let the kid live it up!” It was pretty funny.
Once we checked our bags and had our tickets, we headed
upstairs to the painting gallery. We saw a lot of cool stuff! A few paintings
by Caravaggio, a Titian, and some Raphaels. After that we headed down one floor
and walked through the sculpture rooms. Some of the most beautiful pieces were
in there. A lot of stuff by Bernini was in there. We stared at a statue of
Apollo and Daphne sculpture for a long time but my favorite was Rape of
Proserpina.
It’s a man, Pluto (the Roman god of the underworld)
abducting Proserpina, the daughter of the seasons. The moment depicted is the
second he steps into Hell with her. He has this smug look of self-satisfaction
as he holds her at his shoulder. The look on her face is of sheer terror. She
has a tear falling down her cheek and her eyes seem to be searching for some
sort of salvation. Other details that I loved were her nails, his back, and the
way that his hand visibly grips the flesh on her waist and hip. I wish I could
post a picture link from Google but I don’t have wifi.
After we got our fill of art, we sat outside and ate lunch.
The weather went from being bitter cold to being sunny and warm to being
drizzly and wet. Then we walked through a beautiful park to get to a main road.
We walked down this road to get to Il Convento dei Cappuccini, a place with a
beautiful museum and an incredible crypt filled with hundreds of dismantled
skeletons. It was really just a series of rooms filled with these wild designs
made with all these bones. I can’t even explain it. It was amazing.
After that the group split into two: Zaho and a bunch of
girls went back to the Vatican while Katia, Geoff, Chelsea, Ana Maria, and I explored
the city a bit. We saw a lot of really neat shops on the way. Our favorite was
this little store with nothing but an old man sitting in the doorway with his
life’s work behind him. He’s a wood sculptor and his stuff was all around the
area his shop was located in. There were pictures of him and his work with
celebrities (including the pope) and in cool places. We were attracted to his
shop because he was sitting in a chair in the doorway listening to the
soundtrack from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly on a boombox. He was precious
and Geoff and I regretted not hearing his life story, though he didn’t speak
English and none of us speak Italian.
After talking with him we went and got gelato at Giolitti again.
It was still delicious. Then we went back to the hotel for a few minutes before
leaving again to meet up with the group. When we were together again we jumped
on a bus to take it to Basilica Saint Agnese to get a tour of the catacombs.
When we went in, the tour guide was missing so we walked up a small hill to
Santa Costanza to see a series of 4th century ceiling mosaics. They
were incredible. I mean, they weren’t super detailed or impressive or anything
but just the fact that they’re 800 years old and essentially in the same
condition as they were back then is mind blowing.
About 20 minutes later we headed back down the hill and
began our walkthrough of the catacombs. This involved meeting up with a small,
young Italian woman with a thick accent who would guide us through. We walked
down a set of centuries old brick steps to get into this underground Christian
burial ground. We saw all the shelf-like loculi that people once used to place
a dead relative’s body to rest. There were a few that still had bodies in them,
two of which were available to see. It was creepy but so awesome. I loved it.
There was this musty smell all throughout the tour, but it was masked by a
floral scent in the last room that houses St. Agnes’ remains. It was weirdly
lovely.
After that trip to the catacombs we returned to the hotel
where we all relaxed for a little bit before going out for dinner. I think
everyone went to McDonald’s for free wifi except Katia, Geoff, Chelsea, Ana
Maria, and I. We ended up going to a nice piazza to find a restaurant; we found
one with great deals for students (according to the man who greeted us),
including free bruschetta and free champagne. I got a salad for the first time
since I’ve been in Italy and it was delicious. It was really just lettuce with
tomatoes and cucumbers and some olive oil.
We wanted to do something real fun after dinner but we
pretty much just ended up at the Sacred Area of Largo Argentina to watch all
the cats that live in there. We saw them running and jumping and playing and it
was wonderful. Then I walked down some steps to read a sign and I found a cat
there. Chelsea and Ana Maria eventually returned with me to read a sign and we
found a woman from NYC petting the cat. So we pet it too. It was so nice to be
able to pet a cat!! After that Ana Maria and I hopped on a bus and made our way
back to our area. We stopped for ice cream bars on the way in and they were
delicious.
My eyes are drooping now, good night!!
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