To give everyone a bit of a break from our forced march on Day 1 (and planned forced march for day 3) we planned a hop-on hop-off bus tour for our 2nd full day in Rome. This mode of transport takes you to the major sites of rome, where you can explore at your own pace, and re-board a bus to continue on to the next site you are interested in.
Temple to Hercules near the banks of the Tiber
Looking away from the monument to King Victor Emmanuel II
Facing the monument, which includes the tomb of the unkown soldier. Nick-named the wedding cake by US GIs.
The Piazza Navona: A view of the plaza, which sits on the site of Domitian's former stadium, with the buildings located where the seating would have been. Naturally tourists come here, and therefore things are for sale, both from cafes that ring the plaza and from vendors that set up shop in every other conceivable space.
There are three fountains in the Piazza, the first one we came upon is the Fountain of Neptune, thats him below making some sushi (sashimi actually)
In the middle of the square is the Fountain of the Four Rivers, and like most things in Rome it was designed by Bernini (eg. most of the Vatican) The four corners of the fountain, contain personifications of the Nile, the Ganges, the Danube and the Plate.
Last up (also with help from Bernini) is the Fountain of the Moor.
The church of St. Ignazio. Think of this as a poor-man's Sistine chapel. Much less crowded, and well worth the visit. Below is as much of the ceiling as my little camera could handle.
Ceiling detail - America
Ceiling detail - Europa
Ceiling detail - Asia
Ceiling Detail - Africa
Beautiful work with very vibrant colours, amazing considering it hasn't been new since 1694. Below is the detail showing the carving (marble) of an altarpiece in the church.
These guys are out to make a buck (euro actually). Makes you wonder how you come to this line of work....Hey..you should get a job... ya, but I don't know where to start....Well what are you good at?... I can sit on the couch perfectly still for long periods of time....HEY I know what you should do for a living....ah well.
The Spanish Steps:
The approach to the Spanish steps takes you down the Via Condotti, a high-end shopping district, we remained safely on the street and did not venture into any of these very dangerous shops.
The Spanish Steps - not at all a popular spot. Yikes.
Just before Gelato on the Spanish steps.
At the top of the Spanish steps, if you turn left and look down you will find the much less popular Mexican Steps.
Trevi Fountain:
The Trevi Fountain dates form 1762, and was provided water from an aqueduct that ends at this fountain. The tradition is that if you throw a coin in the fountain you will be sure to come back to Rome. (We did)
The theme of the fountain is the palace of the ocean, with the central figure representing the ocean being drawn by two seahorses.
Detail of the seahorse carving on the right.
two mermaids appear on the scene
... and when it looks like mermaid #1 is going to dive over mermaid #2 the Italian police that guard the Trevi Fountain blow their whistles, and you get chased off the artwork....sorry mermaids.
DONE
No comments:
Post a Comment