Hypnotized at Villa Borghese

We started our last day in Rome with a breakfast at Fornaio, a small Italian bakery that we had discoved the day before. Located between the Via del Governo Vecchio and the Campo de' Fiori we looked for some souveniers at the famous market. The pushy merchants drove us away quickly. We took a bus to the Villa Borghese.

Fornaio bakery, Rome

The Villa Borghese and its gardens are another must for art lovers. If you go there, don't think you can get in without a reservation. You must have a reservation even though you are in a wheelchair. We only managed to get in after a long discussion with the museum's attendants.

Villa Borghese Gardens, Rome

Villa Borghese, Rome

Why I wanted to see the Villa Borghese? Because of Bernini's sculptures! Apollo and Daphne, the Rape of Proserpine and not least David are magical. They hypnotise me and I could look at them for hours, admiring the fleshiness and liveliness that Bernini put into stone hundreds of years ago.

Sculptures, Villa Borghese

In the afternoon we spent lots of time waiting for wheelchair accessible busses to arrive. We always ended up walking and rolling to the place we wanted to go to. On our this trip the Italian bus system didn't turn out to be the most convenient.

One place we went to was Santo Stefano Rotondo. The walls of the church are decorated with gory frescoes portraying scenes of martyrdom. Because of the construction of the metro the church was scaffolded during our visit.

Santo Stefano Rotondo, Rome

The other place we went to afterwards was the Aventine Hill. Here you can get in line for another semi-secret sight in Rome. At the intersection of via di S. Sabina and via di Porta Lavernale go to the green door and peek through the keyhole for a unusual view of...?

Keyhole on Aventine Hill, Rome

Rome turned out to be much more wheelchair accessible than expected. We didn't have to pay an entrance fee at any of the sights. Everything was accessible by elevators. Even the bumpy cobblestone wasn't as bad as I had remembered it. Only the unreliable and not so wheelchair accessible public transport and the complicated and inflexible service of the Sala Blu for travellers with reduced mobilty was a disappointment.