The "B" in Rome

My daughter Emily often refers to me as "the B." Many times our correspondence and birthday cards to each other have illustrations of bees.

When you wander through Rome you discover that this city is filled with bees!
Here I am behind the Palazzo Barberini with a crest featuring three bees.

The bee is the symbol of the Barberini family, including Pope Urban VIII, 1623-44. Urban VIII was the pope when Berninini created so many of his baroque masterpieces in Rome, from the interior of St. Peter's Basilica to the fountain in Piazza Navona. Urban VIII oversaw many other building and restoration projects in Rome and today the city is swarming with Barberini bees marking all of these projects.

Here are pictures of some of Rome's Barberini bees.