| Erin's Rome Journals 4-25-02 This day was reserved for seeing the sights we'd missed on Tuesday, and for revisiting a few with our new friends. Dario & Paola were up and ready early, as their stay in Rome would end that night, so they headed off to see the Coliseum and Forum before we were all ready to go. Sylvia had several churches she wanted to see, and had done her research on the important treasures inside them to find. We started our day with the huge cathedral, Santa Maria Maggiore, which aside from some glorious architecture, houses an amazing mosaic above its altar. This and the Basilica di San Pietro were the recipients of much of the marble that was removed from the Coliseum after part of it collapsed in an earthquake centuries ago, so their age and historical significance is twofold. After this, we climbed a bit of a hill to find the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli, which houses Michelangelo's famed sculpture of Moses, the Mose. This older-looking church also houses some very interesting tomb facades, faced with skeletons, etc., and were some of the most evil-looking tombs we saw in all of Rome. We met up again with Dario & Paola outside, and the 6 of us continued on to the next stop on the list, stopping for pictures by the Coliseum, which we had to pass anyway. Many of the places we went after this were things that Sylvia & Andres and Glenn and I had seen on Tuesday, so we were able to look for things we had missed while seeing them with Dario & Paola. The Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, and Campo di Fiori were all great to see again, but the Pantheon still wowed me the most. We had more great pizza at the Campo di Fiori spot we'd found before, then ice cream to top it off, and went on to see the Fontana di Trevi, which was high on all our lists of priorities. This amazing fountain is built right into the side of the palazzo it was designed for, and is part of the architecture of that wing of the building. It houses some immense sculptures, with a theme of Neptune riding in his sea chariot, drawn by sea horses and heralded by sprites. The square around the fountain was slammed full of people, and we had to fight our way over to a spot facing it. Once there, we tanaciously held our ground until some of the tour groups had moved on, then took pictures and did the tradition of throwing a coin over your shoulder into the fountain. Depending on how many times you do this, you are supposedly going to be able to see Rome again that many times. I threw 2, just to be safe! Most people throw in 1, then make sure to come back and throw another in at each visit. We were tired after this whirlwind day, but it was our last evening with Dario & Paola (driving back to Lake Como region near Milan that night), as well as Andres & Sylvia (flying to London the next morning early), so we made a point of having dinner together at La Familia again, and walking our tired feet up to the Hard Rock Cafe for some huge ice cream desserts. We finished dessert around midnight, and felt we had to see the Fontana di Trevi by night, as it's all lit up, so we tiredly walked there again and enjoyed its beauty. By the time we reached the hostel, it was almost 1:30am and time to say goodbye to our friends. We wished them all well on their journeys and then dragged ourselves up to the 4th floor to crash. |
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| Left to right, Andres, Sylvia, Dario & Paola, and Erin at the Colosseum |
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| Erin in front of the Fontana dei Fiumi in Piazza Navona |