Away we go

Today we are leaving for Barcelona and then Paris on Thursday. We are staying right on the beach in a town outside of Barcelona at Christine's grandmother's place. So when I come back next Sunday I should have a wealth of stories and pictures (since I sucked it up and bought a camera). Yesterday we went to Villa Borghese, a giant park on the north end of the city. There was a running event going on, so the paths were taped off, and runners continually passing by. Throughout the sprawling park are scattered museums, a pond (where people rent canoes and feed the ducks), and a dirt track. The trees create a genuine escape from the city, a micro-climate where people stretch out on the lawn, walk their dogs, display a little bit too much public affection, picnic, and even cycle around on 4 person bike-carts. We also went to the main museum, where they have two of the most famous Bernini sculptures. I've uploaded a scan (will later if it ever worrrrrks) of a sketch of Apollo and Daphne: the story goes that cupid wounded Apollo with an arrow, infecting him with an uncontrollable desire for the nymph Daphne, who he alternatively wounds with an arrow that renders her resolutely repulsed. Just as Apollo is about to catch the fleeing Daphne, her father Peneus (river god) turns her into a laurel tree. So that is how laurel trees became sacred ;). The sculpture is a great example of the Baroque...the figures are literally frozen in twisting motion, and the work is compelling from every angle.