Success!

Good evening. It's the end of a beautiful, sunny, warm day in Rome. Today was much more successful than yesterday. I spent an amazing two hours with Franco for our lessons. It turned out to be more of a private tour for me. I certainly can't complain. Franco and Federica are both multi-generational Romans. They love their city and he seemed to enjoy showing me little special treats. We both worked through the language barrier --- his english is actually quite good. He only had to use the dictionary for a few words. We looked at lots of paintings while he told me about the artist and the meaning behind the painting. I wish I had a tape recorder because I enjoyed all of it, but remember very little.

I do remember the story behind this part of the "Four Fountains" sculpture by Bernini which is above. Notice the hand raised up. Right beside this fountain is a church designed by Barberini. He and Bernini were, to say the least, not on friendly terms. Franco used the word "hate". The raised hand on this sculpture is Bernini protecting his work from the church when it collapses. It was quite an insult to Barberini.

Above is a photo of the Trevi Fountain at night. It was totally crowded during the day and only moderately so at night. I always have difficulty finding it, but as you near it, you can hear it before you actually round the corner to see it.

A night shot of Victor Emmanuel Monument is above. It houses the tomb of the unknown solder. For some reason, my camera colors things yellow at night. I'm sure it's a simple adjustment and, if Nathan were here, he would fix it for me. I did set it to night snapshot, but.... oh, well. You get the picture.

As I was walking home from the tram stop, I shot this picture of nightlife in Trastevere. It was about 9pm on Wednesday. The streets stay busy later than I stay up. One nearby bar was advertising blues music tonight beginning at 10pm. I would like to have gone, but have that problem of not liking either beer or wine. I feel like a mooch. Perhaps I should just order and nurse one glass without actually drinking it.

Tomorrow I'm planning on heading to Orvieto. I loved it last year and want to return. It's also an informal way of me trying to figure out the train system out of the city. New adventures await.