ITALY BLOG SEPTEMBER 2nd, 2025 - ROME

 

9/2/25– Another day, another timed ticket in the morning. This one is for the Galleria Borghese Museum and gardens at 11am. We’ve missed on previous trips and made sure to include this time around.

We eat our pastries for breakfast (that we purchased yesterday) and called an Uber around 10:30am. I am a bit nervous for a moment wondering how close one would be, but only took a few minutes and we arrive at the Borghese ten minutes early.

Upon entering the museum, we are asked to check our bags before continuing on. We oblige, get our check item number and proceed to the first room of the gallery. Wow! The room is decked out in marble from ceiling to floor with sculptures in every corner. I don’t know what I was expecting, but this is definitely better.

We continue to the next room and it’s more of the same, with beautifully painted fresco on the ceiling and gold radiating throughout. Every attention to detail is present, including the elegant chairs and mosaic flooring. There’s even an elevator (have to ask the staff for assistance) to get to the upper floor.

After an hour of roaming, we take the stairs down to the first floor, grab our bags that are stored and proceed outside to find the secret gardens, however the area is blocked off. We ask two employees inside to assist and both say to walk around the building again. Not satisfied we ask a third person who states the entrance is back in the museum area in room #7. So, we check in our bags once more, walk through the maze of rooms and voila, the outside door actually exists. Luckily, the rain never came down and the sun is starting to shine, but the gardens are much smaller than what we thought. No worries, time to grab our bags again and call an Uber to our next place (Castel Sant Angelo).

This is another place we didn’t get a chance to see last time as they were closed the day we were in the area. We’re dropped off around the corner and immediately met with a view of the Vatican cathedral down the street. We then find the entrance, pay the 16 Euros per person and travel up a steep ramp to get to the main level. Ugh, why does every old building have to be a chore (sarcasm).

At first we didn’t know what to expect as we enter a room that appears to be a small museum, but once we go up the side steps we are greeted with a view of the surrounding area through the castle walls. Around the corridor we find a small restaurant with a view of the Vatican, so we park at a table and order pizza, sandwich and coke. Why am I being specific on this? Because when we receive the bill I find the small coke bottle actually cost more (6 Euros) than the two large slices of pizza (5 Euros). That’s how they get you, folks. All in all, the food is excellent and well worth the money.

Feeling nourished, we climb a flight of stairs to an open view area of the city and take more pictures as the sun peaks through the clouds. We are now fully satisfied with the day so far and very happy the weather held up. If anyone wants to know, Accuweather predicted the thunderstorms today while weather.com didn’t. So point scored for weather.com.

Before going to the hotel, we walk across the statue studded bridge and through a cute area of town lined with shops until we get to Piazza Navona (an oval shaped, open area built on the site of the 1^st AD stadium of Domitian). Yes, I looked that up for your reading enjoyment. On one end is the Fountain of Four Rivers statue and in the middle a cathedral and obelisk looming over.

We buy some strawberry shakes, which quench our thirst perfectly, walk a few more minutes to the Pantheon and contemplate going in before seeing how long the line is to do so. This is the part where my legs scream at me to call an Uber and go back to the hotel. A fifteen minute car ride and a short stop at the next door café later, we are back at our hotel ready to get some much needed rest.