Two weekends ago two friends and I went to the museum behind the Duomo called, "Museo dell'Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore." This is where all the very old and famous works of art of the Santa Maria Cathedral (the Duomo) are preserved and displayed because they are too precious to leave outside on the fresco of the church. Later on that same evening we had the good fortune to come across the annual Chocolate Festival of Florence in the Piazza Repubblica. The amount of chocolate there was unbelievable. Stands beyond stands of chocolate in all different forms! What you see above is just glimpse. I tried chocolate salami for the first time and it was delicious, despite the rather unappetizing title!
If you can believe it, we squeezed even more into our second and final day in Rome. In order: Piazza Venezia, The Colosseum, LOTS of Roman Ruins, Piazza di Campidoglio, the Pantheon, inside the church of San Luigi Dei Francesi (Caravaggio paintings), Piazza Navona, and a glimpse of the Spanish Steps on our way to the train! It was an amazing avventura. I can't wait to go back when my parents and sis come to visit over spring break!
After the Vatican we headed over to the Villa Borghese (4th picture down) but unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos once inside. The Borghese family collected thousands of pieces of art for their Villa. One of the most famous is the Bernini sculpture below which depicts the rape of the goddess Persephone by Hades (which I studied an Italian course back at Brandeis!) My first night in Rome ended with a delicious dinner (and dessert!) and a visit to the famous Trevi Fountain.
