Day 18 Rome: Piazza del Popolo, the Borghese gardens, the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna

Today, we meandered up the Via di Ripetta past the Mausoleo di Augusto, which is being renovated, and up to the Piazza del Popolo.  Although this street  is a bit seedy in some parts, I quite liked it for some of its interesting shops. The Piazza del Popolo is also being renovated but is far less seedy being a very broad pedestrian area, and with its Egyptian obelisk, churches (the Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto), the Porta del Popolo

and the Fontana del Nettuno amongst other  sights.  They were setting up for yet another concert while we were there.  Italy seems to have rather a liking for public concerts.

We decided to access the Borghese gardens, but before climbing towards them, we admired the rostral columns to each side of the Fontana della dea di Roma, and amused ourselves trying to work out what the images represented. 

When we reached the Pincio Terrace, we discovered that it afforded us a truly wonderful view of the city,

and was a wonderful place for children to fly kites.  We were also happy to find that it was much cooler up there, and that the park was great for strolling under the trees,

 coming across wonderfully unexpected sights,

listening to buskers, and  watching people try out the go carts, bicycles, segways and surreys.

 We then, very happily, stumbled upon the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna

 and the wonderful lions on its steps encouraged us to venture in.

  What a find!  All the tourists flock to the same tick off locations, where the crowds make it almost impossible to enjoy the facility or sights.  There were very few people in this wonderful gallery, which is a shame for those who miss out, but was wonderful for us.  The temporary exhibit section included  a lot of textile art like this sculpture, Jannah, by Mehdi-Georges Lahlou,

and this textile piece Purgatorio by Bili Bidjocka

and this wooden one by Bruno Conti.

However, very well known artists are also represented, like Gustav Klimt

Van Gogh

Degas

Emile Antoine Bourdelle

Rodin, Cezanne, Monet and Boldini.

Even more amazingly, the gallery was putting on a series of concerts, and we were lucky enough to listen to this wonderful group of musicians in the foyer rehearsing.  Truly, our most unforgettable experiences have been totally unexpected.