Kissy Emoji - 12/15/2023

Its 12/15/2023 at 6:45am. I woke up around 4am after a fat nap. I took a shower and got some affairs in order: uploaded CHECKPOINT to Bandcamp, figured out how ima post on IG, chose which photos to post and brainstormed the contents of my captions, found my travel blog and updated it, and informed the cake lady that she can charge my card. So anyways back to Marta. She was more smiley and giggly than the first time and I'm thinking or at least hoping she got the sense that I like her. She walked us thru the beautiful Borghese gardens which to me looked like a beautiful and well-maintained jungle with its tall trees. The Borghese family started off as a wealthy family of lawyers and then one of them became the pope and that pope made his nephew a cardinal on some nepotism shit. Anyways this pope basically swindled and stile his favorite art from their rightful owners through filthy means such as imprisoning them on bogus charges and confiscating all their things. Anyways, through this means he amassed a large collection of insane art which would later become the Borghese Museum which we also visited with Marta. Thanks to karma basically (the popes' power was basically stripped away) none of the Borghese's have any ownership or rights over any of that art anymore. They're only attached to the building in name. Inside I asked Marta if she was an artist and she coyly downplayed the fact that she drew sketches. She only sketches at home, not bringing her sketchbook with her anywhere, and she mainly sketches her dogs and garden. She does not color her sketches and she does not share them with others because she had done so in art class and did not enjoy the critiquing part. I'd be honored if someday she showed me a sketch but I wont ask. I told her I'd show her some of mine and so when I got back to the Airbnb I sent here my "Toilet in Venice" sketch & sent her my "Babie Goat: sketch. She told me she liked my style! As I was sleepy I bid her arrivederci and replied "ciao!" with a kissy emoji. Now, I'm trying not to read too much into this as it is quite common for women there to blow kisses goodbye (i.e.; the train food lady) and she, Marta, also blew us kisses goodbye when she sent us off for the last time but holy heck I still nearly leapt from my bed and was cheesing ear to ear I tell ya. I sent her my signature bowing emoji along with a kissy emoji right back. Speaking of our goodbye, she said to us "hug me!" and I gave her a big squeeze. As we waited for the taxi to take off she looked back and waited and waved at us at least 3 different times before finally walking away. It was so sweet. She said she'd promise to accompany us to more museums some day. My favorite pieces in the museum were Bernini's statues where (I forget the names) the woman Daphne turns into a tree; the man is carrying his father on his shoulder as his little boy tugs along by his leg; the rape of the farmer lady; and of course, his version of David. I loved his statues (Baroque) because they were dynamic, not so vertical and still, demonstrated many different textures in one piece; and were so intense. I learned that Baroque was the exaggeration or hyperbolization of emotions whereas the later Romantic period portrayed emotion in a realistic manner. I also loved Rubens's sketches as well as his painting of Promoteo (Promotheus)--that one was so intense. Lastly, I got to see three more Caravaggio paintings! My favorite was the decapitation of Goliath (I believe it was). The story behind that one was cool because it represented two things: Caravaggio himself killing that one man and two--the head was a self-portrait, so he was basically saying he was sorry and was beneath/below/indebted to the Pope and higher powers and that this was the fate they so graciously spared him from. Incredible.