Roma 4: Plazas and fountains, good Italian food, and some ending comments

After the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, it was still down-pouring, but I wanted to see the rest of Rome, or all that I could.  I had made a list of all the other areas that I wanted to see, and marked out a route, but when I got down to it, I just kind of winged it until I hit up everything that I wanted to see.

Rome, like Spain, has quite a lot of Plazas.  I am sure in better weather these would be great places to enjoy a cup of coffee or just soak in the Roman life, but since it was so yucky, I kind of just cruised past them, enjoying them as I went.  This is Plaza Venezia.  

Next was the Pantheon.  It is the pride and joy of Rome, because it is the only completely intact piece of architecture/monument from the "classical" eras.  

It was created as a temple to the Julian family.

There is a large hole at the center of the Cupola of the Pantheon.  It is domed, so only a portion of it is exposed to the actual sky, but it was thought to be left open so that prayers could reach the heavens.  However, as you may recall, it was raining quite a bit.  They do not cover up this hole however, just rope off a section of the middle of the floor that people don't slip!  Kind of fun, right?

Piazza Navona: it traces the ancient shape of the Stadium of Domitian.  Rome was big on its sports!

Beautiful fountain in Piazza Navona

The Fountain of the Rivers in the Piazza as well.  Another work of Bernini, but unfortunately it was under construction.  

Fontana di Trevi: Another Bernini fountain, but one of my absolute favorite fountains I have ever seen.  Pictures cannot capture it, words cannot describe it, it is just plain impressive.  It is massive and breathtaking.  

The fountain depicts the scene of the legend of why the fountain was created.  Apparently, a Roman soldier was searching for water and a maiden led him and his men to this "virgin" source.  The water is supposedly very very pure.  

There are many legends concerning the fountain and throwing coins into its waters.  Some say if you throw a coin in, you are guaranteed to return to Rome, others say two coins indicates a new romance, or three will bring on a marriage or a divorce.  Others say that it is good luck to throw three coins with your left hand over your right shoulder.  

I only threw in one coin, and not over my shoulder, so who knows!  Quite a bit of money is collected each year, and it goes to create a supermarket for the homeless of Rome.  Such a great use of the goodluck coins!

The other things the Romans love are columns.  There are tons of them stuck randomly all about the city.  

Spanish Steps: the largest and widest set of steps in all of Europe!  I also met a very nice Spanish couple who wanted me to take their picture, and therefor took mine. 

Fountain of the Barcaccia, another Bernini work, but actually the father not the son, at the bottom of the Spanish steps.  

After all of those plazas, columns, and fountains I was pretty tuckered out, so I headed back to my hotel before meeting up with my friend Anna (from the Oviedo program), for a true Italian dinner.  It was absolutely delicious.  I had tortellini, REAL Italian tortellini, and chicken and potatoes, with a glass of Italian red wine.  I don't usually like wine, but it was Italy, so I had to try.  I followed it up by some real Italian gelatto.  All of it was fabulous.  As you know by reading my blog, the food part of travelling is sometimes my favorite.  In Italy I got everything that I wanted: Pasta, Gelatto, and Pizza.  I was so lucky!  

That FINALLY sums up Roma.  The whole experience was a great one.  I learned a lot from traveling by myself, and a lot about traveling in a country where I did not speak the language.  I am used to the notion that Americans/english speakers are treated with disdain and dislike, but I found quite the opposite.  The people in my new hotel bent over backwards to be helpful, in every way possible.  I had an entire conversation with a women in a tobacco store while trying to buy a phone card, using a mix of hand gestures, Italian, Spanish, English, and miming.  Yet instead of either of us getting frustrated, we continued on and she was very helpful.  It really restored my faith in humanity, especially after having come off of the horrible, lonely, and faceless hostel.  El Fin!