When in Rome

March 2010

Rome was certainly a city of wonder and probably my favorite part of my trip to Italy. There were simply so many amazing things to see while we were there.

Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona was our first stop on our tour of Rome while we waited for our other tour group’s flight to get in. It was filled with vendors selling beautiful paintings and crafts like the ones above. Piazza Navona has three pretty famous fountains: Fontana del Moro and Fountain of Neptune on either end and Fountain of the Four Rivers, or Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi in the middle. It is also home to Borromini’s church of Sant’Agnese in Agone.

The Colosseum

The Colosseum is an obvious must-see when you’re visiting Rome. This ancient Roman amphitheater has somehow survived the ages and is an amazing example of the architecture, culture and lifestyle of the ancient Romans who built it. This structure could hold 50,000 to 80,000 spectators, and was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology.

The Roman Forum

Ancient Roman Ruins, like the Colosseum, are a wonder. The fact that so many of them exist today all over what used to be the Roman Empire is astounding. These, too, help us to look into what life used to be back then. One can’t help but wish to see what they looked like fully intact during their days of glory.

The Trevi Fountain

The Trevi Fountain is a giant fountain in the Trevi district of Rome. It is a major tourist attraction and is almost always surrounded by people. It is said that if you turn your back to the fountain and toss a coin from your right hand over your left shoulder and make a wish it will come true and you will come back to Rome someday. If you toss in two coins, your wish will come true and you will get married in Rome someday. In my experience (one coin), at least the first part works.

The Spanish Steps

The Spanish Steps were built by the French in Rome, Italy. Figure that one out.  Anyways, this is a beautiful structure of 135 steps with the Trinità dei Monti church at the top. If you stand by the railing at the top you can get a skyline view of the whole city of Rome. Also, fair warning to couples, vendors run all around them trying to sell anyone who might look like a couple a rose for a few Euros (how many Euros, however, is your choice).

The Pantheon

Lastly, we have the Pantheon. The Pantheon was built as a temple to all the gods of ancient Rome. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon’s dome is still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome.

These are only a few of the sites we saw as we toured the city of Rome. There was simply too much that we did and saw to possibly put it all in one blog post.