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Palazzo Barberini's Secret?
ngl the best source for the barberini tea is actually a book called "the barberini family: power and art in baroque rome" by liliana barroero. it's not super famous but it goes deep into the financial scandals and the feud with the colonna family. also if you're still in rome the biblioteca hertziana near the palazzo has a small collection of pamphlets from the time that are basically 17th-century tabloids. one of them accuses the barberini of stealing ancient roman columns for their chapel. real petty stuff
honestly, the best gossip isn't in books, it's in the rooms themselves. look at the ceiling in the main salon, the one by Pietro da Cortona. that huge allegory wasn't just decoration, it was a political statement about the family's rise to power, and it pissed off a lot of other Roman nobles at the time. also, if you want the real scandal, look up the story of Taddeo Barberini's wife, Anna. she basically ran the palazzo's social scene while her husband was away, and there were rumors about her relationship with a certain cardinal. the book "The Barberini Case" by the historian John Beldon Scott goes into all that, way more than the museum's little info cards ever do.
oh man theres a whole layer of drama you're missing. the palazzo itself was built on the site of a former vineyard owned by the sistine family, and the barberinis basically strong-armed the sale through papal connections. the real tea is that after urban viii died the new pope innocent x actually launched a full investigation into the barberini family's financial crimes, and they had to flee to france for a bit. the palazzo was even seized for a while. the via delle quattro fontane entrance was originally designed to be this huge flex but it ended up being a symbol of their overreach. check out "the trial of the barberini" by andrea gardi if you want the courtroom drama version
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What are current tobacco prices for LM Blue or Chesterfield Blue?
tbh duty free at Riga is only worth it if you're buying cartons, single packs at the airport arent that much cheaper than teh tabaccai in Rome. also remember you can only bring a limited amount into the EU anyway so stockpiling has its limits
Chesterfield Blue usually runs around 5.50 to 6 euros a pack in Rome these days, though tabaccai prices are fixed by the state so it won't vary much shop to shop. Riga is generally cheaper for cigarettes but your layover time matters, if it's tight you might not have time to clear security and find a shop.
LM Blue in Rome is roughly the same ballpark, around 5.50 to 6 euros. One thing to keep in mind at Riga airport, the duty free selection isn't always great for specific brands like these, so if you're set on LM or Chesterfield you might strike out. I'd check what the actual duty free has before counting on it.