Borghesi Gallery plus............

Yesterday we got tickets to the Borghesi Gallery, as they only allow 350 people in during each two hour period. Michelin says you should spend a day there: there is much to see there besides the Gallery,and I hope to return before I leave. Seeing some of the paintings and sculptures always helps to make a city/culture come together for me, and this was the case here.(It was raining when we left, so I headed off in my LLBean yellow slicker; luckily I did not need it for long.) There is so much history here in Rome and Italy that it is hard to keep it straight…the various feuds, such as between Bernini and Borremini, add to the intrigue. There were some significant sculptures that I especially enjoyed. Afterwards, we walked back to the Piazza de Populo, and we had lunch at Canova-more salads with shared pizza, and Pinot Grigio. We came back to the apartment to regroup and figure out how to get to Trastevere, a “trendy” area popular with the tourists, where we wanted to have dinner. Getting there, as always, was half the fun, since this was our first trip there! We took bus #44 which dropped us at the Trastevere Train Station. (I’d been there early on when I was having my computer charging crisis.) We finally got over to Tram #8 to get us right to where to we wanted to go. However, in the course of figuring this out (several inquiries, of course!), we crossed the street only to return to our original point. We passed a lady in her 60’s, and I guess she didn’t like the way I looked at her, because she spit at me in the face! “What was that about?” I wondered. (Mallory thought it was because she thought I was an American.) I couldn’t wait to wash my face and my glasses; what a NASTY FEELING! Luckily we passed one of the hundreds of fountains all over Rome, so I could wash off my face and glasses to get “cleaned up”!
We found a great, cute little restaurant for dinner, 76 via della Lungaretta. I had delicious pesto lasagna and salad; we have had some wonderful salads! I liked this place so much I wrote a review for it on www.Trip Advisor.
Today Dayle plotted our course so we saw where Berloscone lives (La Quirnale) and travelled that area. We walked down the Spanish steps for the second day in a row, and found another great restaurant Dolci e Doni, where Mallory and I split a cheeseburger and a salad.First thought,we stopped at the Trevi Fountain so I could throw in my coins!:)) I totally indulged my dessert side with this lemoncake.(Picture!) We came home for an R&R break; then we took a short walk in the park before we came home for another awesome salad supper. Today is Ferroagusto, an Italian holiday that seems to be only to be a holiday to party. Shops still seemed to be open, but some were closed, but it is, of course still August, so many are still closed.
Dayle and Mallory leave Tuesday AM, so tomorrow will be our last shot at seeing what they have missed!Buona notte!:))
PS. Ben heads back to RI next Wednesday; he and Mallory went for a gellato yesterday.:))