All Around Rome

May 20

Today we spent time roaming around Rome. We got off the Metro at Piazza di Spagna (sorry I couldn’t figure out how to draw on the map; don’t have the pen with me), which is the pretty much dead center of the map. That was the closest Metro stop to Villa Borghese (big green spot at top of the map). It was a pretty long walk, talking about 30 minutes. We walked around for a while then decided to rent a gigantic bike thing. That allowed us to get around the entire area, which actually extends above the map.

We decided to take a pass on the Galleria Borghese which is supposed to have a very nice art collection. We figured there couldn’t be anything at this museum that could come close to the amazing art we’ve seen at the Louvre, Muse d’Orsay, Prada, and the Vatican Museum, which are 4 of the most famous art museums in the world.

We spent about 2 hours at Villa Borghese before heading back to Piazza di Spagna where we rested on the Spanish Steps for a while. A bit of trivia. Do you know why they’re called the Spanish Steps? Well….at the top of the stairs you’ll see a church. Originally that building was the Spanish Embassy to Italy. When the embassy moved, the names stuck…. Spanish Steps and the Plaza of Spain.

Our next stop was Piazza Navona (lower left corner of the map). This also was quite a hike. We found a couple of interesting things along the way, though. First, we stumbled into a Museum about Napoleon. What it’s doing in Rome, I’m not sure but it was quite nice. It was also free which was even nicer. It also gave me a chance to sit and rest a little.

Across the street from that museum was a bridge crossing the Tiber with a beautiful view of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Not too far from the bridge was Piazza Navona. It’s tucked away off the main street so it’s easy to miss. Peter is the one who noticed the small street leading to it. The Piazza was originally built in the 1st century AD to hold “games”. It’s quite large and was, of course, very crowded. If you’ve seen the movie Angels and Demons, you’ll recognize the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) by Bernini. SPOILER ALERT: It’s where the bad guy tries to drown the 4th Cardinal, but our hero saves him, and he ends up becoming Pope.

From Piazza Navona it was a short walk to the Pantheon (just to the southeast of Piazza Navona on the map). On the way we stopped at the Church of St. Louis of France. It’s a small, but beautiful church and its pews were yet another place to rest my ankle for a few minutes.

The Pantheon was built as a Roman Temple and is one of the best preserved ancient Roman buildings. It’s still in use as an active Catholic Church.

Until now we hadn’t had too much trouble finding what we were looking for. Unfortunately, that ended when we tried to go from the Pantheon to the Trevi Fountain (northeast of the Pantheon on the map). We got turned around on the small, angled streets and ended up heading back toward the Pantheon.

After asking directions several times we got back on track. By this time, though, we were starting to get very tired and hungry. We hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and it was a little after 4pm. We found a restaurant and enjoyed an early dinner at an outside table. It also gave me a chance to rest for almost an hour, which gave me enough energy (not to mention ankle power) to finish the day.

We finally did make it to the Trevi Fountain where Peter threw the coin over his right shoulder. I did it last time and it worked (we’re back in Rome). So, Peter did it this time which means we’ll be back at least one more time.

After the fountain we completed the giant circle, we’d walked by heading back to the Spanish Steps. We finished off the day with our first gelato before catching the Metro back to the hotel.

As you can tell from the pictures, it was pretty cloudy all day, but luckily it didn’t rain. By the time we left the Spanish Steps for home, the clouds were gone and the sun was shining.

All in all, my ankle held up quite nicely. By mid-day it was starting to ache but never really started to hurt. I rested as often as possible as getting off of it for even a few minutes helped. According to the app on my phone we walked 24,000 steps today which is just over 10 miles. Hopefully I didn’t stress it too badly today which could lead to problems tomorrow. Fingers are crossed that it’s okay in the morning.

Tomorrow the plan is to head to the Trastevere area on the other side of the Tiber River. We’ve not visited there before but we saw a Rick Steves episode about it, and it looks interesting. We’ll let you know tomorrow.

Night.