January 2, 2011 A walk at Villa Borghese

Today was sort of a cloudy day with a few sun rays and mild weather around 17C. We went this afternoon for a walk at the Villa Borghese, one of the nicer parks of Rome. Built by Prince Cardinal Scipione Borghese, just outside the Aurelian walls so that he could get away from it all and ride in his carriage through what was then his private garden full of ancient ruins and statues. When you are the Cardinal nephew of a Pope the pressure gets to you, so you need to chill as they say. The park is located on a hill overlooking Rome, it is gigantic, full of old trees, artificial lakes and fountains, it also houses the Villa Borghese, this palace built by the Cardinal to house his private art works, which is one of the finest in the world. The palace is so big many people believe that it was a house for the Cardinal, no, in fact no one ever lived there, it is and remains a museum. The Cardinal could come at leisure and sit in this magnificent building and admire his oeuvres d'arts in quiet meditation. I took the opportunity today to walk in and reserve a place to go and visit the Villa Borghese. You need to book ahead of time and each visitor is allowed no more than 2 hours to visit the entire collection. Only a very limited number of people are allowed in at any given time so that when you visit you can do so without the crowds.  I only visited the ground floor of the building a year ago on the anniversary evening of the murder of the painter Caravaggio. The ticket cost 13.50 Euros per person, it is one good thing as Martha Stewart would say.

We then walk down to the Belvedere overlooking Rome and Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Flaminia which is the formal grand entrance to the Villa Borghese Park.  The Belvedere is the former site of an Imperial Villa to Emperor Nerva, the view is nothing short of spectacular. The only other view of this kind that I know of is from Villa Aurelia aka the American Academy in Rome, located on the other side of the Tiber in Trastevere, but that is not open to the public like the Belvedere.

In the far distance the Dome of St-Peter. Piazza del Popolo with the Obelisk of Augustus.

Steeple of the French Church Trinita dei Monti and the Obelisk atop the Spanish Steps.

Palazzo Medici aka The French Academy in Rome.

The dome of San Andrea della Valle or Tosca's Church

From the Belvedere if you look straight across you see in the distance the dome of the Basilica of St-Peter and the Sacred Apostolic Palace where the Pope lives. To your left is the French Church of Trinita dei Monti (Trinity of the hills) and the Obelisk a top the Spanish Steps, also to the left in the Medici Palace aka the French Academy in Rome. We walked down the Spanish steps and made a right towards Via della Croce and went down it to the Antica Enoteca, which is one of the most popular in Rome.

We met friends there and had a glass of wine and a bit of a chat. All in all a good afternoon in Rome.