The photos for today’s entry show the Piazza del Popolo, Jim at the Galleria Borghese, Jim holding up his chocolate tartufo at the restaurant Tre Scalini in the Piazza Navona, and the great church of Santa Maria del Popolo, again at the Piazza del Popolo. The later square is one of the main centers of Rome, with an Egyptian obelisk, three churches and the lavish gardens above the large urban space. The best church on the square, S. Maria del Popolo has two magnificent paintings by the founder of the Baroque style of painting, Caravaggio. His “Conversion of Saul (Paul)” and “Crucifixion of St. Peter” were ground breaking in 1601 for their bold use of light/dark and the realism of the master’s figures. We were lucky enough to see the paintings before we and the other tourists were ushered out of the church before the 10 AM mass began. We took a cab to the Borghese Gallery, where we met four companions from our Atlantis cruise: Don and John, (Americans who live in Brussels) & Jamey and Gary, who live in Austin. I gave a tour of the Borghese Gallery, whose treasures includes masterpieces by Titian, Caravaggio and Bernini. After the tour we took a cab to the Piazza Navona to have lunch at the Tre Scalini, the restaurant that invented the chocolate tartufo. Tonight we will meet different shipmates for a final meal in Rome at La Scaletta degli Artisti. Tomorrow we take a transfer bus to Civitavecchia to board the Celebrity line ship, bound first for Turkey. –Dan
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