July 18

 7/18 - Rome

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.  I'm not really sure what that means, or if we actually followed suit, but the phrase has been stuck in my head for the past 3 days.  We began our first full day in Rome relatively early with a stroll to the Colosseum and the other Roman ruins.  The stroll was unbearably hot and we ended up stopping for gelato early.  We got peach gelato and shared it.  

We had walked past several beautiful castles, churches, and other buildings that made the journey more enjoyable.  

Every once in a while we stopped in a store or visitor center for air conditioning.  We even filled our water bottles at the public fountains! According to Rick Steeves, Rome prides itself on having drinkable fountain water.  

The Colosseum was majestic and you could really imagine the... festivities... going on there.  

 

  

Directly across from the Colosseum were the ruins of the Forum.  They were cool to see and we were able to get different views because we walked up a hill beside them that led to a tiny church that had stations of the cross leading up to it on the wall.  

Some ornate looking statue in Rome.

"The Thinker"... I think.

 

 
We walked back down, looked at the ruins some more, and stopped to listen to a tour... which stopped when the guide realized we were listening.  We then made our way to the Pantheon, which is a gorgeous church with a dome 3 feet wider than St. Peter's Basilica!  It was gorgeous inside and had huge pillars on the outside that were shipped from Egypt!  

 

After the Pantheon we went to the Piazza de Navona, which was a square with fountains int he middle that had a lot going on.  

  

We walked back toward Emily's and made a slightly wrong turn that brought us up a steep hill where we could see a nice view of the city.  We asked some first-year seminarians from Nebraska which was to go and made our way back.  

A very patient and kind Maryanne takes in the view! Not mad at Karen for getting lost at all! Not even breaking a sweat from the heat!

Once back, we showered and went out to eat at Campo de Fiori, which is a square lined with restaurants.  It is apparently very touristy but the locals like it too.  There were people playing music and, much like the rest of Rome, people trying to sell little flying, glowing toys and ball toys that splat and then re-form into a ball.  We both ordered pizza, which turned out to be about the size of a medium pizza for each of us, but it was great.  

 

From dinner, we began our night tour of Rome (as outlined in our Rick Steeves book!). 

The tour brought us out of Campo de Fiori, which also had a statue of a heretic that was controversial, to the Piazza de Navona, where we had been earlier in the day.  We learned a little more about the fountains there from our guidebook and made our way to the Pantheon, which was lovely at night.  

From the Pantheon we went to the Trevi Fountain, which was packed with people but beautiful.  We "threw a wish in the well." Don't ask us, we'll never tell.  It was quite lovely, but there were also sneaky locals there who would ask to take your picture and expect you to pay for it! Don't worry we dodged them!  

 

From the Trevi Fountain we passed some governmental buildings and ended up at the Spanish steps.  They were lovely and bountiful, but we had to quickly return to Emily's apartment.  

Much to our dismay, we passed several ping pong tables that we could not stop at along the way.  Once back, we relaxed and slept.