Some Iconic Roman Places 

Trevi Fountain

Pantheon

Piazza Navona 

Kerry Throwing a coin in the Trevi for luck!!

The Vatican Museums 

The Borghese Gallery

David

This is a painting in a closed gallery

The ceiling of one of the rooms. Typical ceiling.

Venus and child

A floor mosaic

Piazza Popolo

Some foreshadowing.

Nasoni, 2800 of these all over Rome. Yes, I am drinking out of them and this one was in the middle of a "questionable" field where we took a walk.  I am all caught up, we did the Borghese Gallery yesterday.  

Villa Borghese/ Borghese Garden 

We made our way to Borghese Gardens/Park. It's a huge park in Rome; it is the Central Park/ Chapultepec of Rome. Absolutely beautiful. We came in from Piazza Popolo, walked up the hill, and right in front of us was this pond with people rowing around the lake. I refused because I know what it is like on those pedal boats, which are great for the first half, then....

Then we went to the ‎⁨Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea⁩ which was great. 

Kerry's Favorite

On the way to dinner, we found this ancient wall with modern buildings built around it, crazy. 

Me reading on our patio. We have such a great place. 

Roman Forums the next day. 

I have become a fan of the water fountains that are all around Rome. I read that they are called Nasoni, which means "big nose". There are 2800 of them all around Rome, and they test the water daily. You can fill up your bottles, drink from the tap, pour water on your head, whatever you want. The water is delicious, and they only lose 1% of their water from them. 

Doria Pamphilj Gallery

 We went to the Doria Pamphilj museum on Monday, and it was also spectacular. We got an audio guide, which I don't normally get, and it was very well done. The Doria is a currently lived-in palace that the owner wanted to open to the public to show off the art collection.

Portrait of Innocent X, Velázquez, the reason people come to the gallery. Me? I like the royal bathroom. (foreshadowing)

Beside the bathroom, this was my favorite thing in the museum. This is Prince Filippo Andrea VI Doria Pamphilj (1886–1958). He was an openly anti‑fascist member of the family who was exiled, hid in Rome under Mussolini, and later became Rome’s first post‑Liberation mayor (appointed June 13, 1944).

If you look very close, behind the sofa is the commode. 🤣

In case you thought there was no way this bathroom is currently used, the Doria Pamphilj family has occupied this building continuously for centuries. Through Napoleon, the Risorgimento, Mussolini, the Gestapo, and they're still here, using a water pick.

On the Way to Rome

So we made it to Rome. We came through Dublin on Aer Lingus. Hopefully, they don't start cancelling flights so we can get home in late May. But then again, not so bad to get stuck here if that happens. Wow, I pulled up the blog and realized I kind of stopped the SE Asia trip a bit abruptly. :) Must have been a bit of travel fatigue. We have gotten through all our pictures at home while we were there and edited all the bad ones out of the albums. This trip we will edit as we go; that was a long process. 

Centocelle

We are staying in a two-bedroom apartment in a local neighborhood called Centocelle, which was a working-class neighborhood during the reconstruction and now has gotten a bit gentrified and is really nice. We have a little Metro square that centers the neighborhood and provides transport right into the historic center in about 20 minutes. 

This is our little public plaza where we catch our Metro, it is like a 4 minute walk. 

This is a public fountain which I understand can be drunk from. 

Our Apartment

We decided to head down to into Historical Center, so we hopped on the metro and went to Piazza del Popolo. and went to the Ara Pacis which is the peace alter dedicated in 9 b.c. we forgot to take any picture of it(haha). We did happen to see a lot of other historic sites. 

Neptune 

Spanish Steps

Saint Angelo Castle

St. Peter’s Basilica