Gallery and Villa Borghese & all-you-can-eat Sushi restaurant – Rome (Italy) #4

The Borghese Gallery is one of the places we were recommended to book in advance because of the crowds. So we buy the tickets a month and a half in advance, to find out how much the Covid has impacted Rome as well. It doesn’t matter, we are among the first to enter the villa (out of 20 tourists in all) and it suits us very well. The Gallery is nestled in a huge heart-shaped park (Villa Borghese). If the park is free, the access to the Gallery costs us 13€/person

I don’t know if it’s always like this but the visiting hours are made so that each group has 2 hours to explore the place. So given the ridiculous number of tourists, you just have to drag your feet a little bit to let yourself be left behind and visit the gallery alone.

Part 1: Travel Diary
Part 2: Practical Tips

Part 1: Travel Diary

We take a bus that drops us off right at the entrance of the gallery. You have to know that there are rarely bus stations with seats and roof. There are usually signs indicating the stops. The most frequented ones can have a sign with leds indicating the arrival time of the next buses.

At the moment, we see a lot of flowers of this type completely whitening the sidewalks. It doesn’t smell at all, it’s just pretty.

This is the Borghese Gallery. Even if the tickets were bought online, you have to exchange them for real tickets at the visitors’ center right next door. Access is on the right.

After a small temperature check, we take a small staircase leading us to the 2nd floor. We go from one room to another, the rooms are filled with paintings and the ceilings are all beautifully decorated.

The museum’s private art collection was created by Cardinal Scipione Borghese during the seventeenth century. It consists mainly ofpaintings, sculptures and antiques, which are placed in a non-chronological way, but unfortunately I can’t comment on each work because I don’t know anything about it 😀 Now the gallery belongs to the state. In any case, you have to find :

• The Lady with the unicorn” of Raphael
• the painting “The Boy with a Basket of Fruit
• “Venus Victrix” by Canova
• and Bernin’s “David

Just next to it is the famous painting “Lady with the Unicorn” by Raphael. I thought I took a picture of it but in fact, I only filmed it. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

I’m sorry if the pictures aren’t in the right order, I feel completely overwhelmed by so many masterpieces, I don’t even know in which order I saw them because I went around each floor twice.

Trompe-l’oeils are everywhere, especially on the ceiling, but sometimes on the wall as well. I love it! We’ve seen a lot of them in the Vatican but it doesn’t hurt to admire many more here.

This room is probably my favorite, for its richly decorated ceiling and the horse that seems to come out of the wall.

And my fav is this famous sculpture of Canova Pauline Borghese as the victorious Venus which lies in the middle the room of the same name. The details are breathtaking, the drapery gives a lot of life to the marble.

Before going out, we can observe some elements including several giant feet and carved details. The head of a character (on the right) makes me laugh so much.

Villa Borghese

We walk a little bit to the electric bike rental. We can chose the bike for two or for four people. We choose the bike for two (there is room for one or two children on the front) for 15€/hour. Don’t forget to take an ID to leave as a deposit.

I want to discover the park but not on foot, there are so many hills that it would have made me too tired. It was a great choice because we had so much fun, it’s been a long time since I’ve laughed that much. It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed that hard. It’s been really good for me, especially after my post-Covid mini-depression

And so, with this electric bike, extremely easy to handle, we could see nice things, like this beautiful fountain…

… or that small but peaceful lake surrounding the Temple of Aesculapius. There is no interest in boating on it except for fun 🙂

In spite of us, we are witnessing the preparation of an equestrian competition…

before having an impressive view of Piazza del Popolo. Look for Terrazza del Pincio on Google Maps to find the viewpoint.

All-you-can-eat Sushi restaurant

We are starving and we spot a Japanese restaurant with an all-you-can-eat buffet nearby. We aren’t very excited by the idea (the quality of the all-you-can-eat buffet is rarely satisfactory) but it is finally the best Japanese restaurant in Rome. The all-you-can-eat buffet costs 16€/person (excluding drinks) and it’s delicious. They aren’t stingy in salmon, we order as if it was “à la carte”, via a tablet, except that it is cheaper, that’s all. I highly recommend it! The restaurant’s name is Komi Sushi Restaurant

Our next article in Rome is here

Part 2: Practical Tips

For excursions or guided tours in Rome, check out the activities offered by Civitatis or Viator (a Tripadvisor company)Did
you like this article? Consult our travel diaries in Italy & Rome

You will find the addresses & places mentioned in this article on the personalized Google Maps I made with my sister for Italy here.

Budget

• Entrance tickets can be bought here: 13€/person + 2€/person fee = 15€/person. Choose Pick-up at the venue to pick up pre-booked tickets at the ticket office on site
• Rates for electric bikes (look for Ascol Bike on Google Maps to find them)