Borghese Galleria--best place to see in Rome!

Chris and I love the Borghese Gallery.  It is by far the most awesome place to see paintings, statues and other works of art.  The Galleria Borghese houses a substantial part of the Borghese family collection of painntings, sculture and antiquities, begun by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the nephew of Pope Paul V (1605-1621).  Below is the statue of the Rape of Persephone (or Proserpina) by Hades. We were amazed at the ability of Bernini to sculpt creations like this out of one block of marble and make the skin look so lifelike.

Between 1622 and 1625, Gian Lorenzo Bernini sculpted a marble life sized figure entitled Apollo and Daphne. Apollo clutches Daphne’s hip pursuing her as she flees trying to escape him. Apollo desperate and longing wears a laurel crown foreshadowing Daphne’s metamorphosis into the laurel tree. Daphne is portrayed halfway through her metamorphosis into the laurel tree with her arms already transforming into its branches as she flees and calls to her Father to save her from Apollo.(from Wiki)

Below is the statue of Apollo and Daphne. 

Below is the figure of Napolean's sister who was married to Camillo Borghese. The bed she lays on looks like it would be soft to the touch but of course it is all in marble.

When in Rome-do as all the other tourists do--

Rome!  I love Rome--there is so much to see and do and eat! After Pompei we headed for Rome for a 4 day stay.  The first thing we did was head to Trevi fountain of course...With the crowds around it the best way to get a picture was to do it like this....

At night, Trevi is beautiful.

Then off to the Coliseum--Spectacular!

We even took the tour into the dungeons where all the lions and gladiators spent their time waiting for their turn for the action above.

This is the contraption used to lower or raise areas to transport the animals or gladiators to the main floor.

The Arch of Constantine to commemorate Constantine's 10 year reign and his victory of one of his major battles.  They built these arches almost every time they won a battle.  This one was built around 300 AD.

Underside of the arch

The Palatine is one of the most ancient parts of the city.  Excavations show that people have lived in this area since the 10th century BC.

Almost every corner you turn in Rome there is an amazing piazza with incomparable statues.  This one is Piazza Navona.

And at night....

Pompei

Straight ahead in this picture is Mt. Vesuvius.  I have loved the history of Pompei ever since I studied it in Elementary school.  I have always wanted to see it and thought it was such a singular traumatic event in history.  At last I got my chance..Sorrento is right next door to Pompei so we went to the historic sites there. 

Pompei

Pompei was mostly destroyed and buried under 13-20 feet of volcanic ash in the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD.  It was left that way for almost 1700 years.

Two thousand people died, and the city was abandoned for almost as many years. When a group of explorers rediscovered the site in 1748, they were surprised to find that–underneath a thick layer of dust and debris–Pompeii was mostly intact. 

Jo and Dave were exhausted from all the walking and site seeing

As was I.  We just let Chris drive us everywhere....

Wo..hold on a minute.....

Amalfi coast

Jolayne, Dave, Chris and I drove from Bari to the Amalfi coast and ended up in a hotel in Sorento.  It is very similar to driving Logan Pass but with a lot more traffic!  It is covered with hotels built into the mountains overlooking the sea.  Every 4 years on the 3rd Sunday in June the most important event of the Amalfi coast takes place called the Historical Regata. What are the chances we would be travelling on that very day?  There is also a historic boat race called the Regata Storica delle Repubbliche Marinare (which Amalfi won) on that day--so everyone was on the tiny roads.  It took us 8 hours to get to our hotel.  Beautiful but frustrating for Chris driving it.

People live on the sides of these mountains and grow grapes.

One of the hotels on the coast of the Tyhrrenian Sea

From out hotel room in Sorrento

Zip line!!

We were so happy to have Jolayne and Dave come to see us in Italy.  They spent one week with us in Bari and one week traveling with us to the Amalfi coast, Pompei and Rome.  One of the things Jolayne insisted on us doing was a zip line located just a short distance from our home.  I didn't think too much about it because heights don't scare me too much.  Was I ever in for a surprise!  The zip line was from one town's mountain to another town's mountain!  From Castelmessano to Pietrapertosa.  This is what they advertise:

 The ticket includes round-trip flight on two different lines whose slopes are respectively 118 and 130 meters.

The first, known as "San Martino" line, starts from Pietrapertosa (altitude 1020 mt) and arrives in Castelmezzano (arrival altitude 859 m) after covering 1415 meters with the top speed of 110 km / h.

The "Peschiera" line starts from Castelmezzano (altitude 1019 meters) and arrives in Pietrapertosa (arrival altitude 888 mt), covering 1452 meters with the top speed of 120 km

What can i say--it is fast and EXTREMELY HIGH!  Jolayne had a go-pro on her helmet and we went tandem just so she could video my reaction--unfortunately she didn't get much--just me with a look on my face like these are the last moments of my life!

This is the road we drove on to get to it.

This is us plunging to sure death--Jolayne sure looks happy--she thinks this is fun!!

This is us after the experience--Very happy that it's all over with.  Chris, Dave and Jolayne could have gone again and again.

Beautiful little towns built on the sides of the mountain

This picture was taken after our ride--someone got stuck halfway across and someone had to rescue them.  So glad I saw this after and not before!