Day 4 - Roma

Today we visited Rome and as promised, we ate and drank our way through. We were on our own today since we’ve already seen many of the tourist sites. We took a shuttle bus from Civitavecchia, Italy into Rome. The ride was approximately 90 minutes, so we were able to plan what we wanted to do during the drive.  We had a much more relaxed schedule than my family since we didn’t plan to tour the Vatican or the Colosseum. We wanted to go back and see a few of our favorite spots: The Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, The Coliseum and Roman Forum (from the outside), Pantheon, St Peter’s Basilica and Piazza Navona.

Our first stop was the famous Spanish Steps, which we arrived to via the Roma Metro. The Spanish Steps, named after a palace that held the Spanish Embassy, has 137 steps and was built by the French to connect the French Quarter at the top, to the Spanish Quarter below. Overtime Piazza di Spagna has became the place of “lovers,” home to many wedding proposals and first kisses.

Between the Spanish Steps and Via del Corso is the main shopping area of Rome. Here you will find more exclusive boutiques and high end designer shops. We strolled down Via del Corso until we reached the Fontana di Trevi.

The Trevi Fountain is one our favorite places in Rome. This is Rome’s most famous fountain, romanticized by the Romans, as legend has it that whomever tosses a coin into the fountain will one day return to Rome. However, you don’t just toss the coin in, there is a process. You must turn around, hold the coin in your right hand, and throw it over your left shoulder. If your coin hits anyone, it will bring you bad luck. We didn’t like our odds, as today was a national Holiday (Italy’s Independence Day), the crowd was thick and we didn’t want to take a chance at bad luck! Trevi was as beautiful as we remembered.

Leaving Fontana di Trevi, we headed south on Via del Fore Imperiali. This road takes you directly to Old Rome, where the Colliseum, The Arch of Constantine, and The Forum are located. Because of the Holiday, the streets were packed, shoulder to shoulder. There was a parade and jets overhead celebrating the day. The Colliseum had a beautiful Italian flag hung over it and the jets were dispensing green, white, and red smoke from their engines...pretty cool to see!  It was definitely an experience to be here on this day, but it was extremely crowded and many of the streets were blocked off for the parade.

Our last planned stop was to the Pantheon, which is located in Piazza della Rotonda and was built in 27 BC and restored in 606 AD as a Christian Church. It is now the burial place for prominent Romans, including Raphael, the painter and many members of Italian royalty. What I find most interesting is that the Pantheon has no windows, except for a small round window at the very top of the structure. They claim that this is God’s window into the church.

At this point, it was around 1PM and Jeff and I had seen most everything on our list….it was time to sit, eat, and drink some vino. We headed directly to Piazza Navona. This is believed to be the most beautiful squares in the world and is home to Bernini’s “Fountain of the Four Rivers.” Not only is this square beautiful, but it has many outdoor cafés, great people watching, and Italian artists selling their paintings on the street. Although don’t let them fool you. They won’t really bargain prices with you, selling their painting for over 200 Euro! This is not my definition of a street vendor!

We found a quaint café and sat at one of the front tables facing the street. We ordered a great bottle of Montepulciano and then the feast began. We started with buffalo mozzarella and tomato, then shared a small plate of spaghetti pesto, and finished the meal with Veal Saltimbocca. It was a great meal, great service and we were completely relaxed and ready for the long, bus ride home!
After lunch, we walked back toward Piazza San Pietro, located in Vatican City, where we had to catch the shuttle. We had a few minutes to spare, so we walked around the square and were able to get some great photos of St Peter’s Basilica. Built in 1626, this is the largest Catholic Church ever built! Some of its leading architects were Bramante, Raphael, and Michelangelo. St Peter is buried beneath the church altar, as legend has it that he died on this very spot. The Basilica sits in Piazza San Pietro, which is said to hold up to 400,000 people and is surrounded by 284 columns designed by Bernini. This is the location where you can see the Pope address the world. He was actually on the square today day, but we had missed him by a few hours!

It was a great day in Rome. We are full and happy! Off to Florence tomorrow…can’t wait for the Tuscan wines!

Arrivederci!

J&J