Thin - most places would benefit from champagne service and a happy hour, though i will pass on the martinis.

however in the spirit of making the most of what you can get, the rather up market cafe downstairs adjoining the Doria-Pamphilij does a very passable cup of tea.

"The Rome tourist office has a pretty complete list, probably too complete.

http://www.060608.it/en

Some of the pages are not really translated in full. Look for the little, tiny, "Advanced search" at the right hand side. This will allow you to specify dates, keywords, and the zone of the city. You might want to choose "Center of Rome" for the zone. The keywords aren't very useful. I think lots of the places submitting data don't supply keywords. "

I can't find the 'advanced search' button on this page. Can someone help me out? Thanks :-)

After you view, among other things Titian's "Salomé with the Head of St, John the Baptist" and Caravaggio's "Pentient Magdalene" and his "Rest During the Flight into Egypt," along with the aforementioned painting of Pope Innocent X (a Pamphili family member) by Velazquez and Bernini's bust of Innocent X (actually there are two busts; the first suffered a crack in the chin and Bernini tossed off a second one; the first is also on display), you may want to lunch at the nearby Il Buco, which is only yards away from the Doria Pamphili. I always go there after filling up, so to speak, at the Doria Pamphili.

The latest Trip Advisor reviews of Il Buco are quite favorable. It's not fancy but I found Il Buco to be consistently good. Its website is a bit constipated at the moment, but you'll get a sense of the place even in this condition:

http://www.ilbuco.it/

If I was experiencing pain when walking, I would ask my hotel to call me a taxi when I wanted one unless I could see the nearest taxi rank from the hotel and determine if any were waiting there. It is possible that the nearest taxi rank to this particular hotel always has a suplly of taxis waiting, or ones quickly arrive. But at lots of taxi stands that I have turned up at in Rome, that was not the case. I either waited a long time or gave up and summoned a taxi by phone.

I don't know how many steps it is from the hotel to the taxi rank, but if saving's one feet for a day of sightseeing in museums, etc, is the reason one is budgeting for cabs, then I would not want to walk to the taxi stand, find it empty, and then walk back to the hotel to have the hotel call a taxi for me.

The Borghese Gallery is justly one of the most highly rated art galleries in the world. Not everyone will be interested. If you are curious, make a reservation.

Did you think you were going to the MOMA when you bought the tickets to the Doria Pamphilj? Art is very personal, but most people decide which museums to visit based on their own interests. I, for example, don't care much for Bernini, so the Borghese Gallery isn't in my personal top ten.

Casperjj, you have to choose one of the four options on the main page (Culture, Events, etc.) and then on the next page, "advanced search" is on the right, just above the "share" buttons.

I don't think Salomé with the head of John the Baptist is in the Doria Pamphilj Gallery. I know there's a copy in the National Gallery in London, and there may be others, but I don't remember one at the Doria Pamphilj. Am I wrong?

Speaking of Caravaggio and beheading, his painting of Judith Beheading Holofernes, in the Barberini Gallery, is one of my favorites. Judith looks as though she's supressing a "Yuck!".

According to my Blue Guide, the art critic Bernard Berenson once said of Bernini, something to the effect of, < with all of classical antiquity as a model, how could he have gone so wrong? > I got the feeling that Alta Macadam, the author, didn't rate him very highly either.

I go to the Borghese Gallery about once every other year. They have some excellent temporary exhibits.

bvlenci:

If you look at the list of artists on the Doria Pamphili website, you'll see that Titian's Salomé with the Head of Saint John the Baptist is there.

http://www.doriapamphilj.it/ukartisti.asp

It's really interesting to be reading Francine Prose's biography of Caravaggio. It will make his paintings all the more enjoyable. Any one read that?

We've got tix to the Borghese and the Matisse so far; a Jewish tour of the Vatican with a group; we hired a guide for the Coliseum and the Forum because I can't look at ruins any more without verbal explanations. The Doria Pamphili sounds like a must-do. I am writing down all your restaurant suggestions which were so unexpected and are so welcome.

Sandra, the pain comes after too much walking --my husband has plantars faschitis and it's a bummer at times. But it's great to have so many taxi/bus options/suggestions.

Love the tourist/museum sites, thanks so much!

If you're into Caravaggio, try to pop into San Luigi dei Francesi, mentioned above, Chiesa di Sant'Agostino, and Santa Maria del Popolo.

Have a great time. I used to have PF (I'm a runner). Good inserts, never barefoot, a golf ball massage and ibuprofen all helped. I'm sure your husband already knows all of that.

Jean T:

I haven't read Prose's book on Caravaggio, but I recommend Andrew Graham-Dixon's Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane (2010). Lively, penetrating, and readable, unlike so much writing on artists and their work.

One note: I mentioned Osteria del Pegno, a restaurant in Rome just off the Via Coronari, near Hotel Portoghesi. Its website mentions that the restaurant is for sale, so I don't know the status of its operation.

Francine Prose?

What a horrid writer.

She was misnamed.


But, somehow, I can't see most of you sitting in a well-appointed library sipping sherry out of a Venini glass whilst reading John Ruskin's The Stones of Venice.


Thin

Thin,
Most people don't drink sherry at a library, it's true.

About Salomé: Sorry, I mistakenly thought we were talking about Caravaggio's Salomé. But I had forgotten that the Titian Salomé was at the Doria Pamphilj.

I don't think Salomé with the head of John the Baptist is in the Doria Pamphilj Gallery. I know there's a copy in the National Gallery in London, and there may be others, but I don't remember one at the Doria Pamphilj. Am I wrong?>>

not wrong, bvl - I was looking at it 10 days ago. Very gory!

personally I think that Mr Ruskin was a bit up himself to use the current vernacular, but to each his own.

It turns out the Salomé at the Doria Pamphilj was by Titian.

If I ever drink sherry, which I rarely do, I prefer the glasses we bought at the Coal. They match the furnishings of my library better.

You've already received a ton of great advice. I am also a Rome lover and just returned from my latest visit in November. One bit of advice about taxis - within the city of Rome, the correct "tarrifa" is 1. This number should appear on the taxi meter. Tariffa 2 is correct for outside of the city proper. Several times over recent years I've had to remind the driver to use tarrifa 1 (your thumb pointing up is number one - your index finger is usually interpreted as number two). Also, the meter does not register zero, even at a taxi rank. And, there is a night surcharge and an additional Saturday late night surcharge.

Margaret, the two-zone tariff was done away with in 2012. Now they have instead a system where the longer your trip, in kilometers, the more you pay per km. I think I gave a link to the official taxi tariffs above, but rather than wade through it all, here it is again:

http://www.comune.roma.it/PCR/resour...uglio_2012.pdf

Scroll down to page 2 to see the English version.

Also, that about the thumb and index finger can't be right. A thumb means "thumbs up", just as it did in ancient Rome.

A public library?

You must be a madwoman.

The only time I have ever been in a public library was when Brooke Astor had a fund raiser for the New York City Public Library and Krug and Bollinger were served.

Some of us may be in the gutter
but we are looking up at the lighted windows of Betty Ford.

Thin

<<Some of us may be in the gutter but we are looking up at the lighted windows of Betty Ford.>>

Oscar's rolling in his grave with that one!

By the way, is alcohol, in whatever form, the only way to induce you into a museum or library? There seems to be a theme here.

Do you take a swig or two before posting?