Lucci Hotel Rome Blog

What ?

Galleria Borghese is a one of the most beautiful mansions in Rome with a great painting and sculpture museum inside. This Gallery is situated in the second biggest Rome metropolitan park of Villa Borghese.
The Rome mansion of Galleria Borghese was built for Cardinale Scipione Borghese in 1613 to host the Roman society and delight friends with the splendid collection of valuable works of art from Rome excavations or commissioned famous artists of the time .

The most important masterpieces of the collection are: “Apollo and Daphne”, the work of Bernini, “lost to Venus”, the sensuous portrait of Pauline Borghese, wife of Camillo Borghese and sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, from Canova. “Madonna of Palefrenieri” and “Bacchus sick” by Caravaggio, “the sacred el amor ‘amor profane” by Titian, the beautiful ” “Deposition Baglioni” by Raphael, and even works by Botticelli, Pinturicchio, Perugino, Domenichino.

This prestigious Rome Art Gallery is very busy, due to the top range of the exhibitions and you will have to book your tickets beforehand. The number that you can call is 06 32810, and once that you have your booking number you should go there half an hour before your scheduled appointment. Alternatively you can book a Galleria Borghese Rome tour for a hassle free visit.

Where ?

You can get there by metro Line A (SPAGNA or FLAMINIO stop, some exits access the Villa Borghese Rome park) o by bus from Rome Termini station, which is just by our My Hotel Rome number 910 and for 6 stops.

When ?

Opening hours :
Tuesday to Sunday & Holidays : 09.00 am until 7.00 pm
Closed Mondays

Current exhibition : Canova and La Venere Vincitrice from 18th October 2007 until 3rd february 2008.

Picture this: finally, after all those months of saving you are in Rome. Of course, you feel great. You arrived a bit late to your hotel (My Hotel, of course), but after a shower in your comfortable room you feel wonderful and anxious to start seeing all what Rome has to offer. You’re planning all the nice things
you’ll do tomorrow when somehow (maybe the news, or through your hotel) you realize there will be a transport strike in the city.
Tragic coincidence, but it might happen. Actually many people are in that situation right now while I write this lines. That’s why I decided to make this small emergency guide that will be also useful if you just want to explore the city without taking the buses or the subway.

Walk the City
In Rome during a strike your feet are your best friends. Cabs will be hard to find and you will have to wait years for one, so grab a map and get ready to walk and watch.
From My Hotel you can get walking to the Colosseum, and on your way you’ll find two marvelous churches that you have to visit. The first one is Santa Maria Maggiore where you’ll see many works of Christian art, as a breathtaking mosaic from the fifth century. The main attraction in the second church, San Pietro in Vincoli (Saint Peter in Chains) is the world-famous statue of Moses, by Michelangelo that I’m sure you’ve seen a hundred times in many an art book.

 

 

Since the Colosseum is the first stop in many visitors’ itinerary you might not be interested in seeing it again. If that’s the case, another option within walking distance are the Spanish steps. The area is packed with restaurants and interesting things to see. Besides Via del Corso, the place to go shopping in Rome, is only a couple of steps away, so you’ll find it more than useful if you want to buy some nice souvenirs or if you are a shopping-maniac with a very high limit on your credit card.

Stormy Weather
But maybe you’re not the walking kind. Or maybe you’re so unlucky that you’re facing a strike and a rainy day at the same time. Well, don’t fear, there’s a solution for that too. Repubblica Square (10 minutes walking from My Hotel) has everything someone in your situation can ask for. There are two big bookshops (Mel Book Store, and Feltrinelli International) that sell books in English, so you can sit to read in one of the many cafes in the area, in the mysterious fashion of the spies in the movies. For the less sophisticated
there are two (yes, two) McDonald’s very near that will also make your children happy if you are travelling with them. If there adults only then a pub or a Rome wine bar would definetely be suitable, to get warm and make plans !
Walk down via Nazionale from Repubblica Square and discover the magnificent Palazzo delle Esposizoni, a museum that you’ll love if you are into contemporary and modern art (right now they have a Kubrick exposition that looks extremely interesting.)

Back in Repubblica Square there’s also a cinema where at least one movie in English is played every day. Add to that a nice dinner in a nearby restaurant (you have at least five of them near My Hotel) and the strike day is gone and you not even noticed it.

TIPS

-The Italian word for “strike� is “sciopero�, fear it and be alert if you see it in the newspapers or you overhear it in the streets.

-Ask in your hotel about the details of the strike, they are seldom 24 hours long.

-A pretty obvious solution is to book a bus tour. If it sounds good ask the staff in My Hotel, they will be more than happy to help you with that.

If you’re planning to visit Rome you’ll get familiar with large noses, and I’m not talking about Pinocchio.
Everywhere in the eternal city you’ll find small drinking fountains available to everyone. Their name in italian is “nasoni” which means, literally “large noses”.

Of course, the nasoni are a blessing in summer, but they come handy all year long, anytime you need to refill your empty bottle of water. By the way, don’t be afraid to drink from them–the water in Rome is absolutely drinkable as long as you don’t drink it for long periods of time because its minerals would affect your kidneys after a couple of years.
Anyway, coming back to our large-nosed friends: they appeared for the first time in 1874. The romans noted immediately that the faucet resembled a huge nose and before you can say “vini vidi vinci” the small fountains were already known by its current nickname.
The people in Rome are very fond of their nasoni and even though some claim they’re not very ecological, every time the city council tries to get one removed the citizens defend their fountain and do everything possible to keep it in its place.

Befroe i go, i’ll tel you a secret for beginners- if you want to use a nasone with some style, cover with your finger the end of the faucet; that will make the water gush upwards to you through a little hole in the tube, so you won’t have to bend downwards to drink from it.
According to some calculations there are roughly 2.000 nasoni in Rome, (you can check a map with all of them here) so you are more than likely to see one strolling away in the city, and when you do, don’t forget to take a drink from them, otherwise your visit won’t be complete!

To get a real feel of Rome (nasoni and all) My Hotel or Yes Hotel are great options. Check them and ask for rates and availability trough their websites!