Tina's turn again

Andy and Ethan slept for what seemed like eternity as I went for a jog, took a shower, had breakfast, and even went out around the neighborhood to buy groceries with Massimo. I finally woke them up around 10:30 am, and since Massimo invited us to have lunch at 12:30 we figured we would just chill around the apartment. Nice and relaxing after a long day yesterday. Of course, little did we know that even this day would be rather crazy!

After an incredibly delicious and filling lunch, we said goodbye to Massimo who was leaving for a business trip. I was going to skip the following part but Ethan insisted that it was crucial: we did laundry! (well Massimo's maid did most of it for us cause apparently guests are treated like kings in Rome)

Since it was rather hot we headed off to the Villa Borghese, which is a scenic park that contains the Villa of an Italian cardinal, who lived in the 17th century. Highlight: turtle fountain (i.e. water spouting from turtles encircling a pool). The cardinal was an avid art collector and his villa is currently a museum that houses all of the pieces of his expansive collection (a good number were forcibly obtained). I decided to buy the audio tour, which was soooo worth it, since I learned all sorts of interesting and exciting facts about these masterful works of art, which included ancient sculptures nearly 2000 years old as well as Renaissance and Italian Baroque pieces. The Baroque artist Carvaggio was convicted of murder and exiled, during which time he created a work depicting David holding the artist's own severed head by the hair in place of Goliath; this painting was suppose to represent Carvaggio's penitence. The museum was also filled with works by Bernini, who was internationally renowned 17th century sculptor commissioned by King Louis XIV, the pope, etc, and who produced important architectural works in Rome, including several palaces. His architecture was at one point deemed unsound, and as a response he created a sculpture of a beautiful women holding the sun, which represented Truth: the Truth of great art/architecture and the truth and soundness of his own works. Finally, the most important work in the museum was called Sacred and Profane Love, valued in the 17th century at would be 14 million dollars today (the entire Villa Borghese with all of its other works was only worth 3.5 million). I wasn't incredibly impressed with it, and found a lot of other works much more powerful, which clearly shows wan an awesome collection this was.

Now that I've spend way too much time on the boring museum part, I'm handing it over to Ethan for all the fun and juicy parts of the day. I know, the anticipation is killing you...