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Roma, day Four



We went shopping, and I spent way too much money on a coat and I will be eating nothing but porridge and soup till my next loan check comes in March because of it. But the Italian fashion is really intoxicating--they design with great freedom and individuality--and I was actually practicing a great deal of restraint. I bought some gifts for various people and Chaeli bought a blue dress. We also stopped off at a gallery in the Barberini Palace. I didn't mention that the first night in Rome we stumbled into this palace and happily rambled about on its grounds (it's in the middle of the city and the gates were wide open).



The gallery was not that impressive, except that it was in a way-cool building with way-cool marble stairs and ornate painted ceilings. I think someone should make a coffee table book of the floors and ceilings of Rome. They are among the more impressive aspects of the city's impressiveness. There was one painting in the gallery that was familiar (of course, I have no photo, but I will find an image online if I can) called "Sacred and Profane Love," by Giovanni Baglioni. It is a picture of an angel of light and a demon of great ugliness interacting with a regular person. We went to dinner that night and I had some kind of spaghetti-ish thing with mussels and it was yummy. We also drew pictures of what we thought angels looked like for real, and now I want to have an art exhibit with all sorts of depictions of angels in all manner of mediums from lots of different artists. The only requirement is that no chubby babies are allowed.

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