Outside of the Pantheon
Gelato on the Spanish Steps
Day 14: Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Rome
Our train left at 8:18 and had a little layover in La Spazia on our way to Rome. We arrived at about noon and caught the "H" line bus to our hotel, the Trilussa Palace. Our accommodations were nice, though they were a bit away from the city center. Good thing the public transportation in Rome is good.
After settling in, we decided to go hit a couple of the highlights. We walked around the Trastevere area a bit, which is loaded with restaurants and bars. We found a little place to eat and enjoyed a late lunch of pasta outside. After lunch we headed north by foot to the Pantheon. It's a huge structure with a columns up front and a dome on top. There's a hole in the top of the dome so light shining through made a perfect circle on the wall as it caught the rays of sun. After a short stay, we walked a few blocks west to the Piazza Navona. This open area had a few fountains and many street vendors. We shopped for a bit and Shea and Tommy purchased a watercolor painting of the Coliseum. Our next stop was the Spanish Steps, many blocks to the north east. We picked up some gelato along the way and enjoyed it while sitting on the massive steps that lead up to the Spanish embassy.
We rested for a while on the steps, then started heading back toward the hotel. On our way, we stopped at the Monumento a Vittoreo Emanuele II, a huge building with statues all around it, and the Campidoglio, a grouping of palaces with a great view of the Roman Forum. The Roman Forum, in its heyday, was the center of business activity in Rome. These days it's simply a bunch of ruins, but we stood looking at it imagining what it would be like to be a Roman doing business among the pristine arches and columns.
The sun was just going down, so we decided to go pick up some drinks at a nearby bar and head back over to the Campidoglio for a view at night. Many of the structures were illuminated by strategically positioned lights allowing tourists to wander among the statues and fountains, getting a totally different perspective than in the daylight hours.
We started to get hungry after a while and walked back toward our hotel looking for a place to eat along the way. We were all in the mood for something inexpensive so we opted for a Chinese restaurant right next door to our hotel. We also thought it would be a cultural experience to see what Italian Chinese food tastes like. It pretty much tastes just like it does in the States, but the best part was our bill came out to only €37 for 5 people. No matter where you go, some things just don't change.