Rome around the World

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Our third and final day in Rome was fantastic, and a little more laid back than the other two, although not by much. We woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel before our bus picked us up at 8:00 am to start our day. The bus took us to Castel St. Angelo where we toured the inside of the Castle for over 2 1/2 hours. We also learned from our tour guide Vincento about the significance of Ponte St. Angelo, which used to be known as Elios' Bridge. The inside of Castel St. Angelo was very interesting, you could still see parts of the very impressive floors, ceilings, and walls, but most of it has since been taken away. On the top there is a massive statue of Michel the Archangel. The Bridge itself was lined on both sides with statues of Angels created by Bernini.

Castel St. Angelo:


The Archangel Michel on top of the Castel St. Angelo:

Bernini's Angels on the Ponte St. Angelo:

From Castel St. Angelo you have the most amazing views of the River and of the Vatican. This is where we were able to catch the best pictures of the dome. Running from the Vatican (the Pope's room to be exact) all the way to Castel St. Angelo is a secret passage inside of a fortress wall. This is how the Pope could run to safety when the Vatican was under attack.

St. Peter's Basilica Dome inside the Vatican City from Castel St. Angelo:


Me & Greg at Castel St. Angelo with St. Peter's Basilica in the background:

Once we were done inside the castle it was time to head back to the Vatican City. Since today is Sunday, the Pope comes out and does his blessing. Greg and I decided that it would be a great thing to experience. We had a few minutes to kill before the actual Blessing began so we all ducked into a shop to look around. When the Papal Blessing began we all went outside to enjoy it, there were thousands of people standing around. A lot of people were waving flags and banners, but most of us just stood around, watching and listening to the Pope. We could make out a few things that he said (Italian and Spanish have a lot in common) and when the official sermon and Italian blessing were done he then did it in several other languages. We still could not quite understand what he said when he did the English version but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

The Pope in his window giving the Sunday morning Blessing:


Me & Greg at the Sunday Morning Papal Blessing:

Just some of the masses of people at the Papal Blessing:

When the blessing was done we took our leave and began walking. We were headed to Trastevere and had lunch at Margherita Osteria Pizzeria (the original place we wanted to go was of course closed), but we thoroughly enjoyed our margherita pizza, caprese, bruschetta, wine and beer. We then headed up to Giancolo, where you are supposed to get amazing views. We walked up to the top and saw the Spanish Embassy, Mausoleum, a huge fountain, and spectacular views, but could never find the puppet theatre that we were looking for. We decided rather than continue to wander around this park aimlessly we would just head back down and visit some other areas of town. When we got back down toward Trastevere we went to a cafe where Greg could enjoy an espresso. SHOCKER!.

Greg with an espresso:

We then continued our walk around Rome, we walked over the concrete island (Isola Tiberina), saw the Templi del Foro Boario, Santa Maria en Cosmedian, Archway to the Forums, Santa Sabina, and many other remains and ruins before making it to our actual destination, Pyramid of Caius Cestius. This pyramid has been around since 12 BC (can you even imagine anything being that old in the States). It was quite large but apparently was made of brick and then covered with marble instead of the traditional way of being made by Egyptians. Along side the Pyramid was a small castle and then parts of the Aurelian Wall.

Templi del Foro Boario:


Pyramid of Caius Cestius:


Remains of the Aurelian Wall:

Once done we hopped on the Metro to get back into town. We went to the Piazza del Popolo where the oldest obelisk is erected. Surrounding the obelisk are four lion fountains,on which I climbed. The whole piazza is surround by a bunch of small sphinx statues, more fountains, and then steps up to a park. We ducked into Cafe Canova for some delicious gelato, and of course Greg had a cappuccino. We then jumped back on the metro to head to the hotel. We went into a few shops for some local souvenirs before heading to the hotel to pack before dinner.

Me on the lion fountain in Piazza del Popolo:

We ate dinner at Ristorante Terme di Diocleziano in which we ate beef cannoli, spaghetti alla carbonara, consomme, prosciutto with buffalo mozzarella, and wine of course. We then headed back to the hotel for a couple hours of sleep. We were up at 3 for the taxi to take us to the airport so we could head back to London. Note: Nothing in the Rome airport opens before 7 or 8 am.