Saturday, November 10th
Today, I got up and walked down the Via Nationale to the bank with an ATM on the front of it. I always use ATMs at actual banks in case the machine eats my card. In this event, I can walk inside the bank and ask them to take the machine off line and retrieve the card. The card worked fine and I pocketed my 100 euros without any criminals or winos seeing me.
So what do I do now. My reservation for a ticket to the Borgese is at 1 pm and as of this moment, I have no guaranteed way of getting there and back. Then I see a bus driving through town. Perhaps the strike is over… I had hoped this yesterday, only to find the buses driving to the station to block the entrances. I walk to the Termini to investigate. I find the tabaccieri and ask the young woman, ” Il metro funzioni ? ” ” Si ! ” ” Vorrei un biglietto per il metro per the whole day, per favore !” I did not know the exact name for the all day pass for the subway. It would seem that the strike is over ! I exitedly walked back to the hotel and got the things that I needed for my adventurous journey to the museum.
Step one is taking the metro to the Spagna station, which is the station close the the Spanish Steps. I then followed the exit signs and came to a crossroads inside the long exit hallway of the station. One hallway led to La Piazza de Spagna and the other led to La Villa Borgese. I had some extra time, so I walked in the direction of the Spanish Steps. Out I came into the sunlight, with tourists everywhere. I recognized the Spanish Steps from the tourbook and I saw the sculpture of the sinking boat. There were so many tourists standing everywhere that I could not get any good camera shots of the steps. After a short observation of this neighborhood, I pulled out my map and my boy scout compass and determined that the Galleria Borgese was 25 degrees east by northeast from my current location. I re-entered the subway tunnel and took a left at the crossroads into the tunnel that leads to the Villa Borgese. The tunnel was long and took ten minutes to come out of. There were no signs telling me anything so I pulled out my compass. The sidewalk led in a northeasterly direction so off I go. After walking for five minutes I came to a crossroads with an old stone wall to my right. Perhaps the Villa was on the right side of the stone wall, so, I took a right. This turn led to a street with lots of upscale restaurants with uniformed waiters. Since I was dressed in a coat and tie, I knew that I could eat at one of these restaurants later if I had time. But then I pulled out my compass and discovered that I was walking in a southeasterly direction and needed to turn around. I walked back to the stone wall and started walking on a road that led in a northeasterly direction. There were no street signs. I eventually saw a street sign that indicated that I was on the proper street which ran along the east side of the villa. Then, after walking for seven minutes, I saw a sign that pointed left down a path to the Galleria Borgese ! I found a directional sign to the ticket reservation desk and presented my reservation that had been made on the internet over a month ago. The young woman then reached into a lock box and handed me an envelope with my name on it ! Inside was my ticket. What service ! I took the ticket to what looked like an entrance to the actual viewing rooms. A woman stopped me and started speaking in Italian. I showed her my ticket and she said to return at 1 pm. I left the museum and took a walk through the villa which is basically a park with dirt and gravel paths through it. After walking for a few minutes I heard a flock of birds squauking. I followed the sound in hopes of amusing myself until 1 pm. I then came to a parking lot with a sign that read La Giardinia di Zooalogicalia. There was a big gate with lots of children and parents walking through it. Was this a zoo with a long pretentious name ? Apparently so. I didn’t have time to attend a zoo, but I wish that I did. There was also a place to rent bicycles upon which to ride the dirt and gravel paths. Maybe next time…
I stroll back to the museum and go back to the entrance at 1pm. They let me and a line of about thirty other people come in. There was Roman art from 200 a.d., the Carvaggio Masterpieces, Titian’s Sacred and Profane Love, Bernini’s Rape of Proserpine among others of his from the 1600s and many sculptures by a sculptor named Canova, from the 1700s, who seems to be as good as Bernini. When you see these sculptures in person, they really seem to jump out and touch you. I really cannot even conceive of how these artists create something like this out of what basically is a huge chunk of marble. Where do they begin ?
After viewing everything, I jouneyed back to the metro station and caught a train back to the Termini. A good meal with red wine completed a delightful adventure.
This is the life !
I.C.