Art Continued

I've been to Rome a few times, the last being about 6 years ago.  A lot has changed since.

The city has been cleaned up (much cleaner than Paris!), made more pedestrian friendly (walk between the Pantheon and Trevi), the monuments restored (didn't remember so much blue in the stonework in the Pantheon -- Gorgeous!), new trendy restaurants and bars have replaced most of the tacky souvenir shops in the core, the city just shone.

My last memory of Rome wasn't overly warm but I wanted to return for the art and the food  It was a long way to go for 4 nights but so happy I made the effort.  Ended up being my best visit ever.  Had a lot of fun and the stay was surprisingly nurturing for my soul.

I didn't want to give too much away so only 1 photos from the Borghese Gallery.  You really need to be in that space in person -- Beyond Outstanding.  Take time to wander around Villa Borghese park while you are there.  Another highly recommended gallery is the Gallerie Nazionali Barberini -- Went twice -- Completely different feel (2nd photo).

Happened to be there during the Maratona di Roma and decided last minute to sign up for their 4 km charity fun run.  It was one of those mega events with upwards of 80000 participants.

The end of that run was at Circo Massimo -- Pretty cool when you think about it!  The skies opened up about a minute after the start and poured rain  (9 C too!), resulting in much laughter as we all got completely drenched in disbelief -- The rest of the days were over 20 C.  Was worth it, as over 9 million Euro was raised for dozens of charities.