Despite yesterday’s ordeal, we’ve decided that the best cure for a stressful day inside is to continue exploring outside, but as per our revenge plan, the breakfast Nutella has became our hostage along with sugar sticks and tea and we now have a couple of movies to watch thanks to the fast internet speed and unlimited capping.
Spanish Steps & Trinita dei Monti Church
From the Metro Spagna station we passed horses with carriages queued in the Piazza di Spagna not to far from the Barcaccia Fountain to take customers for a tour of the surrounding cobbled streets. We mazed our way through to the fountain where we took some photos up to the Spanish Steps. Because there were so many people waiting at the fountain we only had a few seconds to literally jump in front of the camera for a snap before being hurried by other tourists. This is the widest staircase in all of Europe and consists of 138 stairs and looks up to the Trinita dei Monti church.
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| 138 Spanish Steps - The widest staircase in Europe |
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| Barcaccia Fountain |
Hundreds of tourists had gathered to experience their moment of sitting on and walking up the Spanish Steps for themselves. We took our time walking up the marble staircase and were pleasantly surprised by the relaxed and fun family atmosphere and noticed people sitting on the stairs people watching and reading in the sun on the steps.
We couldn’t spend too much time in the Trinita dei Monti church above the Spanish Steps enjoyed the time in the Italian Renaissance church admiring famous biblical scenes like the life of John the Baptist and Passion of Christ.
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| Trinita dei Monti Church |
In front of the church stands the Obelisco Sallustiano, (one of the many obelisks in Rome) which was moved here in 1789. It is a Roman obelisk in imitation of Egyptian ones and the hieroglyphic inscription was copied from that on the obelisk in the Piazza del Popolo. Although we’ve explored Egypt already on this trip, we are both still fascinated by the Egyptian hieroglyphics and history.
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| Obelisco Sallustiano |
We made our way down the fashion road Via Dei Condotti admiring some stunning red shoes and expensive clothes. Maybe we’ll be back another day to buy something, not on this trip though. It’s gorgeous to see the shutter windows down this street.
We continued through the Piazza Navona and saw another obelisks in a fountain. The open spaces enclosed by the coloured apartments and serviced restaurants is a perfect place for vendors to also be but sadly we were running out to time with so much more to see so we continued walking.
In the Pantheon
We came from the back of the Pantheon and were ready for a lunch break so queued 15 minutes in a pizza place which was very popular by tourists. It was tasty and greasy and just what we were needing to refuel. The back restaurant room had paintings of Mexicans with sombreros which we thought was an odd combination with Italian pizza?!? It goes to show that even on a break our minds are always wandering and observing when we’re in new surroundings.
The external walling of the Pantheon was actually under construction today, but it was still amazing architecture, and inside the building we again marvelled at the structure and marble detailing. Inside the Pantheon is the sarcophagus of Raphael and has the sculpture of Madonna del Sasso (Madonna of the Rock) created by Raphael’s pupil and a beautiful 16th Century chapel alter with a Crucifix sculpture. We could have stayed here all afternoon reading about each piece and observing the ceiling and walls.
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| The Pantheon |
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| Raphael's sarcophagus with Madonna del Sasso (Madonna of the Rock) sculpture by Lorenzetto 1524 |
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| 16th Century Chapel of the Crucifix |
Trevi Fountain
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| Trevi Fountain |
Next stop was for refreshing gelato at the Trevi Fountain Piazza and we were amazed by how many people had gathered in a small space to see water poured over sculptures. The craftsmanship of these sculptures were truly fantastic and well worth the international fame it has generated. We flew across the globe to see it.
Piazza del Pollo
On our way home we strolled past the obelisk and sphinx in the Piazza del Pollo as rain began to lightly fall and we were pleasantly surprised that the Leonardo Da Vinci Museum was across the street.
Leonardo da Vinci Museum
This was a perfect opportunity to slow down and learn about one of the greatest influential Italians. Although da Vinci is well known by the public for his paintings, one quote read that he much preferred the freedom of creating his inventions and his counsel was highly sought after by dignitaries because of his abilities. This museum displays interactive machines recreated by his detailed sketches and displays creations such as his flying machine, boats, a machine for storming walls, and an 8 barrelled gun that looks like a rake. A video also looped about da Vinci’s geometric theories of the Viturvian Man.
We really wanted to buy a t-shirt with Homer as the Viturvian Man, but decided to save our money because we still have a month of travelling to go.
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