Rome 2018

Our first afternoon in Rome was drizzly. The kids loved the Trevi Fountain for some reason.

  

 

On to the Vatican.

 

It's my understanding we were very lucky with the relative lack of tourists at the Vatican. We had plenty of room in front of Laocoon and His Sons, for example.

We saw Patrick Dempsey and his family during our visit to the Roman Forum. He has a kid named Darby. I heard that name yelled out a few times.

We often ended up at the Spanish Steps. There's a natural, inexorable flow to foot traffic in the Centro Storico.

Our apartment was right next to Piazza del Popolo. We liked the rental just fine. We slept well.

Castel Sant'Angelo was where I felt most favorable towards the Baroque. Lurid and mean!

Fatamorgana probably was our favorite gelato place, why not. We don't really care about gelato though. Don't ask us for recommendations.

Eventually, our luck with the weather ran out. We got soaked trudging through the Villa Borghese gardens.

We were in a bad mood at the Borghese Gallery because we were wet, and it was the first time we really had to deal with a scrum of tourists. Plus the art was lit strangely; you couldn't see most of the paintings due to the glare. And all the sexual harassment of female subjects in the art was tiresome and gross and depressing. But don't mind me; I sound like a Yelp review. Go to the Borghese Gallery because it's Rome, and everything is amazing.

Santa Maria del Popolo was my favorite church because of its Caravaggios. We had trouble getting in until the panhandler in the green watchcap pointed us to the right door. Horace's favorite church was Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio di Loyola in Campo Marzio. It's a doozy. I didn't get a picture of the fake dome there.

The art at the Villa Farnesina was compellingly ugly. Behold Alexander the Great being gracious to the awkward mother of Darius. I can't get on my knees and lean that far forward without toppling over.

Jane was happier in this photo than otherwise at the Villa Farnesina. She was done with sightseeing at this point.

Though she later begged me to take a photo of bubble guy.

 

We spent our last night in gritty, empty Fiumcino because of our early flight the next morning.