We spent our last day in the Bologna region visiting Venice. We return to Rome one last time before heading home.
Rome
Sadly it was time to say good bye to Bologna. We left early in the morning and boarded a train to Rome. A few hours later we arrived, checked into our hotel and set out to explore more of this beautiful city.
As we made our way through the city I had noticed these delicious looking sandwiches on display in many little shops. We stopped to grab a couple as a snack. Tourist trap! We learned the hard way that for the most part the “pretty part” is right up against he window and there is very little “filling” past the first layer. Lesson learned. Though it was still appetizing to look at!
Spanish Steps
Our first stop took us to the Spanish Steps. This is a beautiful plaza with a warm brown color on all the buildings. In the centre is a beautiful fountain called the Fontana della Barcaccia. And on one side is a beautiful set of 18th century steps that take you up to a beautiful church and a view overlooking the neighbourhood. The area is quite beautiful, especially on a bright sunny day. However (as we soon learned) popular attractions like this turn into huge crowds of tourists!
Trevi Fountain
Our next stop was the equally popular Trevi Fountain. We had walked in from a smaller street and as the plaza for the fountain emerged we were a bit surprised how many people were crowded around the fountain. While the fountain is awesome, sadly one of the sides was being renovated at the time. Add to that how crowded it actually we, we spent enough time to snap some photos of it before moving on. Hopefully sometime in the future I’ll have a chance to return and visit it when its less busy and fully open.
Pantheon
The Pantheon stands out as something I would highly suggest visiting if you ever visit. From the outside it seems unassuming and similar to many monolithic buildings in the city. However, when you get inside you immediately appreciate how intricately this was put together. There is a beautiful dome with a hole in the centre that lets in a single beam of light. On a sunny day (like the one we had) you’re able to watch as the spotlight from the sun moves across the dome with the Earth’s rotation. It is also a place of worship and thus there are a lot of religiously related art and objects around the perimeter of the building. Overall, spending some time inside the building and simply taking it all in, having a moment of silence and solitude was refreshing!
Piazza Navona
From the Pantheon we moved on. We arrived at Piazza Navona near the end of the afternoon. The sun was low on the western sky and the way the light lit up the plaza setup a great atmosphere. Inside the square are three beautiful sculpture fountains. Interspersed between and around the fountains are many art dealers selling paintings. Surrounding the plaza are small restaurants and cafes. It was an amazing place to stop and relax. Next to the Pantheon I really enjoyed simply walking around this area. Looking at the different art and just taking it all in.
Altar of the Fatherland
As the day was coming to an end we walked back to our hotel. We passed by the Altar of the Fatherland. This was the huge white building near the colosseum. We had seen it on our first days here but we detoured a little to get a closer look. It turns out it is a monument to Victor Emanuel II. It was huge and very impressive!
Ristorante Tema
After freshening up a little in our hotel we setout to a restaurant we had found on Tripadvisor called Ristorante Tema. We started off with some deli meats and a bocchini and tomato dish. We all ended up ordering a few pasta dishes to share. Everything was super delicious. For one of our last meals on this trip we really enjoyed it!
Tomorrow would be our last full day before flying out. All good things come to an end!