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Italia: Kosher restaurants.Kosher restaurants are somewhat rare in Italy, but two we can recommend (credit to Gambero Rosso magazine) are Ruth's Kosher Vegetarian Food,via Farini 2/a, Florence (tel. 055/2480888); and Gamgam,not vegetarian, Sottoportico di Ghetto Vecchio, Cannaregio 1122, Venice (tel. 041/715284). Roma: Borghese Gallery reopenedRoom for room perhaps the richest of Rome's magnificient galleries, the Borghese, in the Villa Borghese park, has reopened after 13 arduous years of restoration work. Titians, Caravaggios and Berninis are ready to welcome visitors once more. Reservations are recommended since only a small number of visitors are admitted at a time. Piazza Scipione Borghese 5 (tel. 06/8548577; for reservations 06/328101). Extended summer hours: 9-10 p.m. Tue.-Sat.; 9-8 pm Sun. Special summer closing time at 11:30 p.m: Thur.+Fri. July 16-August 22; and Sat. until September 12. Palazzo Altemps museum now open.Palazzo Altemps, near Piazza Navona, houses the magnificent collection of Boncompagni-Ludovisi classical sculpture including the incomparable Ludovisi thronedepicting the Birth of Venus. Piazza Sant'Apollinare, 46. Extended summer hours: 9-10 p.m. Tue.-Sat.; 9-8 pm Sun. Special summer closing time at 11:30 p.m: Thur.+Fri. July 16-August 22; and Sat. until September 12. Sundays are especially crowded. Villa Giulia reopens 7 rooms.The Villa Giulia National Museum (in the beautiful Villa Borghese park at the opposite extreme from Villa Borhese) contains Italy's, and probably the world's, greatest collection of Etruscan antiquities. The villa itself was designed for pleasure-loving Pope Julius III by Vasari, Vignola and Ammannanti as a summer palace. The rich collection includes unforgettable masterpieces such as the monumental Bride and Bridegroom sculpture in terracotta, and the Veii Temple Sculptures (both from the 6C BC, the acme of Etruscan art). The 7 newly opened rooms, closed since 1990, represent the collection of finds from ancient Falerii Veteres (Civita Castellana), subdued by Rome in the 3C BC. The opening is a great step forward in the overall plan to reopen by the millineum the 1st story of the museum with the fabulous Castellani Collection of Etruscan gold jewelry (of which the Etruscans were masters), and pottery. Venezia: Clock of the Tower of the Clock back in SeptemberThe famous time piece, including the articulated figures of the Three Magi and Gabriele the Archangel located in the Tower of the Clock in Piazza San Marco, has been undergoing substantial restoration since last year. By September it should be back in its original location in preparation for a February '99 reinauguration. |
| Other Bits: (Sum - '98); (Fall/Winter - '98/'99) |
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