Private visits to Roman museums

After so many days between Europe and the USA, spending a day in Rome was a marvelous idea. Every time I step my foot in the Eternal City I’m astounded by the amount of restaurants, pubs and clubs of the city. As soon as I get to the center I realise that there are just a few people around me.

Maybe it was just a coincidence or during the first weekends of summer Roman citizens just travel to the sea or the mountains, but streets and squares seemed forsaken and more deserted than I would have ever expected. Navona Square in all his vastness is even more beautiful without the flocks of students and tourists reflecting their own images on their smartphones.

Strolling around the Campidoglio it came back in my mind that I hadn’t visited the Capitolini Museums in a long time. And I remembered the saloons and the corridors crawling with marble statues severely standing in the enormous space they try to occupy.

I start my visit getting  lost among the Roman statues and the marble copies of the Greek bronzes, including gorgons, imperators and amazons. I pass by an astonishing Caravaggio and suddenly I found myself in an ancient brick balcony and the view is mesmerizing: the Republican Forum, and nobody is visiting it. Rome is showing off her beauty to me and the few chosen that decided to pass a few days in the capital.

After a day spent walking through the streets, the little squares and the corners that makes Rome such a magnificent city, it is finally time for the most significant experience of this staying in the Capitoline soil: the visit to the Vatican Museum.

It will be difficult to forget the wonders that the Vatican Museums host, especially since my visit took place privately in the evening. It is incomparable to enjoy the magnificence of the Sistine Chapel, the frescoes of Michelangelo and Fra Angelico, if not alone, surrounded by art, with the soft light of the sunset coloring the walls warmly.

The exiting to the outside world was enveloped by the ecstasy of the works just seen, but the late hour reminds me that it is time for dinner. The choice of the restaurant falls on a pleasantly typical and Roman location: the “Al Callarello” restaurant, on the Aventino.

A restaurant that offers chairs and tables of classic white plastic, tasty food in its genuineness, in my case a delicious spaghetti with clams, and local clientele. Around me there are little to no tourists, but Roman families who made my dinner more charatteristic.