June 7, 2012 Day 9

A littlebit of historical background. Galleria Borghese is a seventeenth century palacedesigned by architect Flamino Ponzio for Pope Paul V. Construction commenced in1608 and continued until 1790. Scipione Borghese began the collection withRaphael's Deposition.  

Today, Ihate to admit, has been the most unpleasant day during this trip. I like artbut I don't enjoy it. I like the fact that I can take back what I have seen,such antique and valuable art from the hands of the greatest artist. One thingI did enjoy was the fact that I saw Pope Julius II's portrait. Another statue Ienjoyed viewing was the statue of David as he's getting ready to toss the rockto Goliath. There was a lot of religiously connected art as well. I'm not toosure how I feel about a painting of Mary teaching baby Jesus how to step on asnakes head. Her foot is already on the snake and Jesus facial expression is ofdiscomfort. Up to this point I like the idea of Mary teaching this to Jesus atsuch a young age. She stepped on the snake by accepting the will of God inbarring his child and savior of the world. As we know, Jesus would do the sameonce he gave his life and resurrected three days later. What I find a bitdisturbing about the painting is the fact that Mary looks extremely seductive. Herdress is showing cleavage and if it weren't for her foot stepping on the snakeI would think it's any other woman but Mary. Along these same lines, baby Jesushas absolutely no clothing. He doesn't look like anything else but a sweetlittle boy learning how to walk but I can't imagine seeing this image in anychurch.  Once out of the museum we madeour way back to the Trevi Fountain. I find it amazing how we are now able tofind our way around using public transportation. We arrived to the fountain andmade our way to a pizza/gelato store. Although I've been eating nothing butpizza, pasta, and fruits, I have not had enough of it.

I simply alternate between meals and with all the walking we do, anymeal will work just fine to charge up my energy.  After our quick meal we made our way to theSpanish steps. Along the way we found many, many fancy shops. I'm not too pickyabout my clothes so store names didn't ring a bell but from the reactions of myclassmates and the prices of the items I was quick to realize we were on apretty fancy street.