Slow Moves

Chi va piano va sano.
He who goes slowly goes far.

Italian adage

We woke up to a major thunderstorm, the first rain in four months for the Romans so it is a blessing. Taxis were non-existent so Bro ordered us an Uber car which got us to the Borghese Gallery so that we were first in line for our 11:00 appointed time. Visitors are given a two-hour limit and we used every minute.

The Gallery is famous for its exquisite collection of Baroque paintings and sculpture. For me, Bernini's mastery as a sculptor is most evident in Pluto's hand on Proserpina's thigh.

Pauline Bonaparte, modeling as Venus, still does not feel a chill stretched out in the centre of a gallery. Her contemporaries were aghast when Canova's sculpture was revealed and asked her how she could do it. She replied, "What's the problem? I wasn't chilly."

After a restorative coffee in the Borghese park's chic cafe, we hiked under umbrellas through the drizzle over to the Spanish Steps. The rain brought out the wonderful spicy scent of the umbrella pines and glistened on the pavement. It let up as we approached the monumental steps that lead up to the Trinita dei Monti church. Being an archaeologist I spent my time admiring the beauty of the travertine stone while others admired the view (and I'm rather partial to my papal shoes).

From the Spanish Steps we wandered slowly over to the Pantheon and sat in the front row of a ringside cafe. I saluted Hadrian, my favourite emperor. What a guy, able to manage an empire and design the incredible temple to all the gods (now all the martyrs), my absolute favourite building.

This evening we are heading to Trastavere for dinner (and gelato).

A presto!

Update:

We have returned from an amazing evening with Eros at Trattoria Gli Amici in Trastevere. Yes the namesake of the god of love was our volunteer server. He told us that his father is a curator at the Vatican Museum and was standing in front of a statue of Venus when he got the call that his wife was in labour -- and so the child was named after the child of the goddess of love. Eros himself is full of love for humanity. He volunteers to support a restaurant operated by the Community of Sant Egido that provides a workplace where mentally challenged people find meaningful employment. Gianluca aided Eros in serving us. It was a fantastic experience with first quality food and wine that supports AIDS prevention programs in Africa. We came away with a couple of bottles of fantastic olive oil.

Flavour of the Day

After a meal of pasta and saltimbocca, I opted for a light lemon sorbet for dessert at the restaurant. A heavenly end to a blessed day.