Scott, Sidney and I went to Palazzo Farnese in 2023. The building is the French Embassy which only in the past few years has permitted public tours. But the tours are strictly directed so you don’t get long to see anything and you can’t take photos. The cost is minimal so I booked to go again.

Before I went I walked into San Luigi dei Francesi because there was no queue. Still found a crowd around the Caravaggios.

And there’s a rope to keep you from getting right up against the altar rail. On the other hand, there is no more pay to get lights turned on set up.

They also have a little gift shop.

I found the courtyard to Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza was open so I sketched.

I still can’t manage to get my sketch and the view of what I was sketching to both be in reasonable focus.

And again I screwed up with my proportions and cut off the top of the spiral—grrr!

From there I walked to Palazzo Farnese.

You can admire the design of the building (parts of which were by Michaelangelo) but no photos of the interior rooms including the frescoes by Annibale Caracci.

At the end of the tour I acquired an unexpected companion. A woman, who was by herself because her friend has a sore knee and didn’t join the Farnese tour, asked if she could walk with me to wherever I was going. She assured me that she’s Norwegian so a safe person.

I was going to go to Santa Maria della Pace to see if I could find somewhere to sketch. She wanted to come along as she was interested in art history and liked going into churches. We walked through Piazza Navona and went into Sant’Agnes in Agone because she had never seen inside.

Her English was pretty good but she often spoke to me in French and I inexplicably often answered her in Italian, which she said she doesn’t speak. It was a strange interaction at times.

Santa Maria della Pace was open when we arrived so we went in to look at the Raphael fresco.

By this point we both needed a bathroom so I suggested we go next door to the caffeteria in Bramante’s Cloister. We each ordered a drink and used the bathroom.

By the time we finished our drinks, it was too close to sunset to start sketching. Ingun, as I found out her name, was staying outside of central Rome so needed to go to the metro. She wasn’t sure how to get to the closest station but I thought I knew the Barberini station as it is right by Bernini’s Tritone Fountain. I managed to walk us there without a map, Google or otherwise, with no problems. I surprised myself with my afternoon’s navigation.

After I returned to the apartment, I was ready for some leftover food and to call it a night.