A beautiful day with a bitter end

Once the kids were off to school, Josh and I rode our bikes to the Villa Borghese where we had an 11am reservation to visit the Gallery Borghese. The number of visitors to the Gallery is limited each day and therefore a reservation is necessary, however we were surprised that we were asked to show up 30 minutes before our appointed time. Upon arrival, it became clear why.

First, you have to wait on one line to retrieve (and pay for) your reserved tickets. Then if you'd like to get the audio tour (which we did) you have to wait on another line. Finally, all visitors are required to check their bags and, you guessed it, there is another line for that. With the multiple line waiting and the crowds, many of whom had no regard for personal space (it's as if they believed that breathing down your neck would make the line move faster), my expectations of exclusivity as just reward for advanced planning quickly vanished.

Once inside, the grandeur of the Villa is immediately evident and any negative feelings from the pushing and shoving in the lines below dissipate. Our first treat was Bernini's statue of Pluto and Prosperina. And while there are paintings from Caravaggio, Titian and Raphael in the collection, the Bernini sculptures were the highlights for me. One was better than the next. We saw Bernini's sculpture of David and, the piece-de-la-resistance, the Apollo and Daphne. His figures have an amazing life-like quality. The subtle details, given the medium which is marble, are awe-inspiring. Canova's sculptue of Pauline Bonaparte (Napolean's sister who married a Borghese) was also beautiful.

The Villa itself and it's grounds are spectacular. The ornateness of each and every room, and the manicured gardens really make you feel like royalty just walking around. Each group of visitors is given 2 hours to explore the Villa before the next group of reservations are allowed in. We were dubious that they could actually execute the enforcement of the two hour time limit, but in fact, after almost 2 hours, an announcement is made and the docents walk around and do manage to clear out the last remaining visitors. We had had ample time to tour the villa, but had been tipped off by one of the security guards that there was another exhibit - this one of contemporary art - on the other side of the garden. Instead of being ushered out with the rest of the visitors, Josh managed to convince the docent to give us a few more minutes so we could view the other exhibit. The realistic, black and charcoal watercolor paintings of every day objects by Hans Op De Beek were interesting worth seeing.

Afterwards, we rode our bikes towards the Pantheon and stopped for lunch on the small Piazza Maddelena at an elegant restaurant with a headline view of the facade of a Baroque church. Really an amazing and romantic atmosphere on a beautiful, sunny day in Rome. Then came the challenge of riding back up the hills of the Villa Borghese after a glass of wine and on a full stomach. We arrived home just in time to pick the kids up from school.

It was Erev Rosh Hashana, and we had been invited by an Israeli couple to join them for a celebratory dinner at their home. The husband and wife have lived here in Rome for 20 years now and the husband is a cousin of a good friend in Chicago. It would be our first time meeting them. It was so kind and generous of them to invite all of us - a family of 5. It was a really lovely evening and there was so much food, the wife must have been preparing the meal for days. We started with a few blessings, wine and challah, and the traditional apples and honey but we had pomegranite also. Then we moved on to home-made gefilte fish, a beet salad, matzoh ball soup (the kids had several helpings of this). Then, we had Beef Wellington, a chicken dish, rice with an amazing mushroom sauce, and salad. When the fresh home-made applesauce was served with chunks of fresh figs and kiwi we thought we had eaten a delicious and light desert. But that was just the intermezzo before the desert course which included three varieties of cakes - including a honey cake with chocolate on top that was baked from a recipe handed down from several generations of their family.

It became challenging to keep Avery at bay for such a long meal, but he was able to play with an old set of Legos between courses. At one point, when I stood up from the table to check on him, I began to feel dizzy. The dizziness didn't go away when I rejoined the group at the table. I went out on the balcony on the pretense of taking in the view of the lights of Rome, but in reality, I needed the fresh air. Still dizzy. I indicated to Josh that we'd have to go soon "the kids are getting tired." But this was before the desert course and we couldn't leave before desert!

A few minutes later and out of the blue, I was wretching in this nice couple's apartment on the occasion of Rosh Hashana. Fortunately, walls are thick in this part of the world and no one heard me (except my husband who came in to check on me). We bid adieu, and I was never more relieved to sit down in a car with the windows rolled down. But before we could begin the drive home, we had to navigate the exit from the narrowest street in Rome. So now I had my head hanging out of the window for two reasons. I had to keep Josh posted on how close we were to the wall lining the "passageway" (hard to really call it a street).

So you see, this is how my magnificent day, riding my bike, visiting the Borghese Gallery, enjoying a wonderful lunch, and celebrating Rosh Hashana with my family, ended bitterly.