Our last full day in Rome wasn’t quite as nice as some of the previous days of the honeymoon - Lacie was feeling pretty poorly from the stress on her neck after our day at the Vatican, so she decided to sit out the morning’s activities and rest at the hotel. She wouldn’t let me stay with her there, though, so I ended up getting sent off to visit some museums.
I set out on a route that was rapidly becoming familiar, past the Palace of Justice and south across the Tiber. I arrived at the Palazzo Altemps too early, though - some forty minutes before it opened - so I wandered around the (still breathtaking) Piazza Navona and the surrounding neighborhood a bit to pass the time. While wandering, I had another of those serendipitous Roman moments; I found a great door. Even niftier, the door led to a library that promised untold riches of rare and aged books. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open that early… and the museum I originally intended to visit was opening in just a few minutes, so I zipped back over and was one of the first people in.
The Altemps was full of statues - it was amazing. From the drunken Bacchus (complete with li’l buddy and cat) to Athena/Minerva and her serpent, they were all remarkable. I was especially impressed by the informational graphics that accompanied many of the statues, showing which pieces of the marble were original and which had been replaced over time. That Athena with the serpent I mentioned? It started life as another goddess entirely - a later owner had it altered to be Athena so it would fit into his collection better.
Other highlights from the Altemps: busts of Aristotle and Demosthenes, some nifty Egyptian pieces, and a giant head of Juno (very reminiscent of the Clash of the Titans). The Altemps also houses the Suicide of Galatian, my personal favorite (said to be commissioned by Julius Caesar himself).
After a quick stop back at the hotel to check on Lacie, I set out for the Galleria Borghese. I got to walk through some beautiful park areas on the way there - and on my departure; entrances to the Borghese (and stays within it) are timed and I arrived at an inopportune moment, so I didn’t have the time to wait around for the next chance to get in.
Instead, I directed my feet towards the Villa Giulia, the national Etruscan museum. Along the way, I passed the Italian museum of modern art (with what looked to be a semi-representational statue of Romulus, Remus, and the she-wolf out front) and, of all things, a statue of Simon Bolivar… Once past those, I hit the Giulia and was off and running. I never realized that so many Etruscan artifacts had been discovered; from my half-remembered anthropology classes in college, I thought the Etruscans were a rather mysterious group, but the Giulia was full of enlightening information. There were cases and cases of funereal pottery and jewelry, and there were statues (including a wonderful Etruscan Apollo) that completely surprised me. I was happily snapping pictures left and right until I found out that I … wasn’t supposed to be taking pictures. Sigh. They should really have signs up about that.
After leaving the Giulia, I made my way back to the hotel through the Piazza del Popolo (it’s huuuuuge!) and picked up Lacie for a late lunch and a trip to one last museum - the Palazzo Massimo. The Massimo houses any number of things - from amazingly-preserved frescoes, to the most finely-detailed mosaics you can imagine, to still more sculpture. We spent a few hours going through the collection before heading back to the hotel to rest up for our train ride to Siena on the next day.
Day 8 pictures taken - 199
Total pictures taken - 647