A Walk in Rome

 

 

A Walk in Rome

Previously, when we were in Rome, we visited the Colosseum and the Forum.  This time, we thought we’d try something a bit different and check out other famous locations!

Driving into Rome from the port town of Civitavecchia, we passed this lovely scene of a part of Rome along the Tiber River.  I love the stillness of the image and the reflection.

On our way to meet up with our guide for the walk-through Rome, we got a bit sidetracked by some filming that was going on.  Apparently, they were filming a scene/scenes for an upcoming Fast and Furious movie.  I don’t think we saw any stars of the movie, although someone almost ran me over!!

The Pantheon is a former Roman temple and since 609 AD, a Catholic Church.  It is one of the best preserved of all ancient Roman buildings, probably because it’s been in use most of the time.  The square in front of the Pantheon, with the obelisk fountain is called the Piazza della Rotunda.  It was charming to see a water fountain on the far side of the fountain, complete with a small bowl for pet pups to be able to get a sip in as well!

Given that this is a Catholic Church/building, it wasn’t surprising to see statues devoted to various saints, The Blessed Virgin, etc.  The rotunda ceiling was also quite the sight to see!

There were some interesting “holes” in the wall (image on the left).  As it turns out, there was once something held up on the walls, set with brass items.  One of the monuments was to a woman who, according to legend, was behind the creation of the margarita pizza.  I don’t know that I believe that, but it was stated with a straight face!

On our way to our next stop, we passed through this very cool square (there are squares every time you turn around!), with this great building and another obelisk fountain!

The sculptures surrounding the obelisk were incredible.  One of the amazing things is that the water that flowed from the fountain didn’t touch any of the sculptures.  At times, it did look like the water touched the sculptures, but when I looked closer, the water really didn’t touch any of them!

Here is a fountain off to the side of the one mentioned above.  This one is called, appropriately enough, the Cherub fountain.  You could actually spend some time looking at each one to see all the detail.

Isn’t this a lovely, covered walk area?  It’s actually a shopping mall!!  It wasn’t a very large one, and charming!  Hopefully, they don’t get much hail that might crack the ceiling windows!

The second of our scheduled stops was to see the Trevi Fountain.  The last time we were in Rome, the fountain was being worked on and we got to see it dry with all sorts of scaffolding around it – somehow, not the same as this!  This 18^th century fountain is about 86 feet high and a little over 161 feet wide.  It’s the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous in the world.

And here are Jeff and I at the fountain!  I don’t generally appear in photos, but I thought this time, I’d make an exception.  Informationally, the Trevi Fountain has appeared in a number of movies, including Roman Holiday (1953), Three Coins in a Fountain (1954), Le Dolce Vita (1960) and The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003).  And, yes, we did toss coins in the fountain, too!

The last of our scheduled stops was at the Spanish Steps, which also has an obelisk fountain in front of it, or rather at the base of the steps.  The stairway consists of 135 steps and has been the scene of several fashion shows.  The marble steps have been quite slippery, and at least one runway model or two have taken a tumble.  Jeff and I decided to sit on the wide banister area of the steps but were quickly shooed away by the local police!!

This last image isn’t from Rome.  It is from the sunrise after we left Rome, and started traveling to our next stop – Dubrovnik, Croatia!