Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Italy Trip 23

Here's the last set of pictures from the park surrounding the Villa de Borghese. The first is of a random (that is, no other rides around it) bumper car pit. I mostly liked how the low sunlight cast the nice shadows on the colorful scene:

The trees and shrubbery in the park were particularly interesting. They must have been chosen and arranged to enhance the atmosphere of the park, and in the sunlight, they made for a somewhat enchanted setting:

The southeast corner of the park borders on the old city boundaries, marked by the wall in the following photo. This side is known as the Piazza le Brasile, and the wall goes back to the middle ages (I think):

Here's a view from the other side of the wall. The neighborhood is a kind of swank shopping district, but I found the wall much more interesting than the stores. It extends for about 7 or 8 blocks now, but at one time apparently encompassed the entire city:

Walking along the wall, I was stopped by an Italian man who asked me (me!) for directions. As it happened, he was looking for the street I was heading for, so I was able to tell him where it was (just a couple blocks away). He asked me where I was from, and when I told him America, he responded by asking if things there were going to be better with Obama, and I told him I thought they were. He agreed and said he was glad that I thought so too. I kind of got the feeling that was what everyone over in Italy thought (except maybe Berlusconi).

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