Sunday, November 20, 2011

non ci sono le parole

tonight i write to you all just having returned from rome. what a trip. over the course of 72 short hours i saw life changing art (do i sound ridiculous? yes! and the worst part is that i am fully aware that i sound ridiculous!), visited amazing sites and monuments and to top it all off, dined spectacularly well. 



to run down the highlights:

the first night we started at the vittorio emanuele iii monuement, and then went to villa borghese, a serene and peaceful park just at the edge of the city. we then visited the villa borghese, renowned as one of the best private collections in the world. the bernini sculpture that i saw there was undoubtedly some of the most provocative that i have ever seen. and then there was caravaggio's san girolamo. it was an unbelievable way to start off an incredible weekend.



the next morning i stopped by the pantheon and marveled at one of the world's finest examples of architectural genius.

i then proceeded on to piazza navona



and then went and saw the widely advertised georgia o'keefe exhibit. was it totally a bizarre coincidence that one of my favorite american artists just happened to be exhibited in rome the weekend that i was there? was it perhaps odd to go see an american artist in rome? was it destiny? i ought to stop asking obnoxious rhetorical questions. regardless of the oddity of the circumstances, i practically danced my way through the exhibit i was so excited. it was spectacular. coincidence or not, i left the museum beaming.


from there, i bounced along to the castel sant'angelo, an interesting fort/mausoleum/castle structure. then there was the vatican. oh man the vatican. the museums, it need not be said, contain some of the world's finest art. despite the fact that it was my second time being there, i was nevertheless stunned walking through each of the rooms. rooms of raphael followed by michaeangelo. 1st century roman statuary. so much magnificent art. i ought to start thesaurus-ing because i think that i am going to run out of superlatives for describing the weekend.


after touring the vatican museums i went to st. peters, saw the pieta and cursed michaelangelo for a minute for being so darn talented at 23. i then made it up to the top of st. peters right at sunset and saw some amazing views of the eternal city.



the next morning promptly turned into a photo binge at the colosseum as i walked around imaging gladiator playing out before my eyes. i felt rather like a 5 year old boy with an overactive imagination in fact.


anyway, after meandering through the roman forum, it was finally time to go back to firenze to the villa that it is somehow appropriate to call my temporary home.


oh and throw some of the best food and gelato that i have ever had in the mix and we can call it a trip, alla fine.