Capitoline Museum and an Opera concert

Buona sera! (Good evening)

Musei Capitolini- my favorite museum so far. Here's the link for a virtual tour:
http://tourvirtuale.museicapitolini.org/#en
Our writing prompt was to draw 2-3 different things and write about them. Apparently so many artists flood the museum that they only allow you to draw with a permit. We only got a permit for one room, so we fulfilled the prompt for the rest of the museum as stealthily as possible :)

Giant foot! 


To the left, a gold statue of either Hercules or Apollo. The Romans specialized in intimidation.

Interesting myth. How did Rome begin? To the left is a sculpture of the she-wolf and two twins: Remus and Romulus. These brothers were descendants of Aeneas, hero from Troy. They were abandoned and rescued by a wolf who nursed them back to health in a cave within Palatine hill. Romulus eventually killed his brother Remus after a heated argument, and took possession of the area, establishing Rome. Thus, "Rome" comes from the name Romulus.










There are so many other beautiful things to share! One area that especially overwhelmed me held a variety of important documents, such as:
a letter from Marie Antoinette to her brother in law describing her despair, the dogma of Mary's Conception, Mozart's golden spur, a letter from Jefferson Davis to Lincoln, the imperial ban against Martin Luther declaring him a heretic of the Catholic church, the Copernican theory, and other books or letters regarding popes, Henry VIII, Columbus... and many other important people I felt like I should know.

Despite the awe of this... my favorite moment so far on this trip happened spontaneously last night. My roommate and I decided to wander around, and stumbled upon what seemed to be a church service. It was actually an opera concert. We ended up watching the whole thing for free! It was the most beautiful concert I've ever been to.  The isle lined with white flowers, candles and chandeliers circling the front, voices echoing and filling every corner of the church... It was very special experience this with the Italian people. I felt like one of them. No camera, and I was glad not to have one.

I shall have some Nutella and catch some of the soccer game on TV (a big deal here, so I probably should participate) before bed.

Buona notte! (Night!)