The Agony and the Ecstasy

Woah.

It began Sunday morning, when I spilled a cup of water on my computer. I shut it down, prayed, and left the house, leaving it to dry in a sunny spot.

I began with the Galleria Borghese. The permanent collection was all I expected it to be, but the revelation was the temporary exhibition of Correggio. Somehow they managed to collect most of his major work - The Galleria must be fantastically well-funded to mount such a show.

There's really no substitute for seeing an artist's work collected in one place. Everything makes sense, subtleties emerge, themes develop. Its the easiest way to fall in love - or be disillusioned. In this case I developed a major crush on the intimate "affetti" (psychology) in his work.

The Borghese is run (perhaps neccesarily) in a rather awful way - You must make reservations a week ahead, you have to show at an exact time, you are ushered out 2 hours later. Two hours is simply not enough, and this is one of the many places I will be returning to.

The list of places I will return to are pretty much my suggestions for art sights to see in Rome. In order: Vatican Museums (esp. Pinacoteca, Sistine Chapel, Raphael Rooms/Borgia Apartments), Galleria Borghese, Palazzo Barberini (aka Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica), Doria Pamphilj, San Luigi dei Francesi, ... hmm. I'm leaving some out. There's a few major sights I have yet to hit, including the Santa Maria del Popolo. The list skews hard toward painting as I have zero interest in sculpture. I am looking forward to seeing Michelangelo's Pieta though.

In the Villa Borghese I stumbled into a progressive/bio/environmental fair which was lucky - the merciless Roman diet of pasta and pizza has me craving healthy food, and a vegetarian meal was lovely. The "bio" (organic/sustainably produced) food movement thinks of itself as a struggling minority in Paris, but its actually quite common there. In Rome, its virtually non-existent.

I then visited the Carlo Bilotti museum, which feature 22 De Chiricos. The work in this small collection was worthwhile, but the atmosphere in the museum is awful.

I returned home to test my laptop - to no avail. Tears were shed, oaths were sworn, and selves were recriminated. I went to an internet cafe to send out an S.O.S. I left the cafe in low spirits... As I walked down the street, I was subsumed by a procession of Catholics parading their Byzantine icon of Mary (of the continuous succor) down the street. Every was singing and chanting, and it kind of felt like the city was trying to comfort me.

It didn't work, but the city wasn't going to give up so easily. I went home and collapsed on the sofa. By Sunday night, I usually have a case of sun poisoning and feel hung over. I woke a few hours later to the sounds of cheering in the piazza. A soccer match was being broadcast on the steps of the Cathedral on an uber-widescreen. It was the semi-finals and Italy was fighting Spain. A large, raucous crowd had gathered to watch... It all came down to a sudden death shootout. With each goal or save everyone went nuts. This cheered me up considerably.

The cathedral I face across the square - San Giovanni - turns out to be the original Cathedral of Rome and remains to this day the Pope's official church - not St. Peter's, as many believe. The shrine facing my building is the "sanctum sanctorum" of Rome.

This morning my laptop seems to be more or less happy. Oh happy day.

Song of the day: Blonde Redhead - Silently.

Bonus Beat: Atlas Sound - Ready Set Glow.