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After our long day yesterday, we slept in! After breakfast at the hotel, we were off to fill in the blanks - the places that I had marked in the guide book that weren't already covered by the ancient Rome day and the Vatican day.
We started by walking to the Spanish Steps.
As we started our walk, we noticed these flowers (photos above) for sale outside of a florist's shop.
The Piazza di Spagna is dominated by the fountain pictured above. This is the Fontana della Barcaccia. Barcaccia means leaky, old, worthless boat. The photo on the right above is a detail of the fountain. Once again, the water coming out of the mouth caught my attention...
While the Spanish Steps are interesting and historic, they were overrun by tourists and not that interesting. We were too early in the year for the big floral displays that highlight that area (pots of red azaleas, according to the guide book), so all it was was a long flight of steps that were nice enough.
The photo on the left above is looking up the Spanish Steps. One is allowed to relax on the steps, but not eat on them. Wonder how they enforce that? At the top of the steps is the church of Trinita dei Monti with an Egyptian inspired obelisk in front of it. The photo in the center above is the view from about half way up the steps, looking back into the Piazza di Spagna. The photo on the right above is one of the views of the city from the top of the Spanish Steps.
The photo on the left above is an Egyptian inspired obelisk which stands in front of Trinita dei Monti at the top of the Spanish Steps. The photo on the right above shows Carl waiting patiently for me to finish shooting. There are several artist stands at the top of the Spanish Steps.
The photo on the left above is of a rooftop restaurant (we were too early to eat there) located near the top of the Spanish Steps. The center photo shows the view that one would have from this restaurant, looking out over the Spanish Steps and the Piazza di Spagna. The photo on the right is a sign for a clothing store we passed near this area. The name is only one letter different from mine. Wonder if they left it out?
The photo on the left above is an obelisk dedicated to Emperor Augustus. It's located in the Piazza di Montecitorio. The building behind the obelisk is used by the Italian legislative branch for offices. The photo on the right above shows some of the many motorcycles and motor scooters that dominate Roman traffic. This parking lot is in the same piazza as the obelisk.
Then we explored the Rotunda area - the part of the city near the Pantheon - following one of the guide book routes, finding all the hidden treasures along the way, like the giant foot and the fountain that looks like a water keg man with a leak in the barrel.
The photos above deal with the Pantheon. The one on the left is an exterior view of the side of the building. The center photo shows one of the former side entrances to the Pantheon. The one on the right shows some of the fragments of facade remaining.
The photo on the left above is of the Obelisk of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. The church in the background is Santa Maria sopra Minerva, originally built on the site of a former temple to Minerva... The photo in the center above is the Pie' de Marmo, which probably formerly inhabited a temple of some sort. The rest of the statue is missing. The photo on the right is the Fontana del Facchino, the fountain of the porter, dating from around 1590.
We had lunch on the Piazza di St. Ignatius, then moved on to the Aventine area.
Along the way, we saw this bit of excavation. This was somewhere along the Via del Teatro di Marcello. The photo on the left is a fresco from an ancient church. The photo to the right shows that they are still finding more and more of this little church.
The prime attractions in the Aventine area are two really old temples, one dedicated to Hercules and the other to Portunus. These are two of the most intact ancient temples in the city and are near the River Tiber. The photo on the left above is the Temple of Portunus, the god of rivers and ports. The remaining two are of the Temple of Hercules.
Just steps away was the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin (photo to the left above), which is the home of the Bocca della Veritas, the Mouth of Truth. This is the famed sculpture that was used in Roman Holiday - you're supposed to place your hand in the sculpture's mouth and answer questions. If you told the truth, nothing happened. If you lied, the stone mouth would bite your hand. According to the guide book, this was probably originally a water main cover or sewer cover that someone liked and put up on the church wall... The photo on the right above is the Fontana dei Tritoni, which is in the piazza in front of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. The photo in the center is of my souvenir plaque of the Bocca della Veritas.
Anyway, there was a long line of people waiting for their turn for pictures of themselves with their hand in the mouth and it was hot, so we settled for a souvenir pin and wall plaque (center photo above).
From there, we walked back to the Tiber River for a view of the Broken Bridge - a bridge fragment from antiquity that remains in the middle of the river. The photo on the left above is a close shot of the Ponte Rotto, the Broken Bridge. The two on the right are of the Ponte Fabricio, which was originally built about 60 BC and is the bridge I mention in the next paragraph.
We also walked for a ways along the bike path at river level. Very nice bike path. The photo on the left above shows the Tiber, Ponte Rotto, Ponte Palatino (a more modern bridge used today by autos), and the bike path along the Tiber. The other two photos show more detail of the bike path. Once we returned to street level, we found a stand selling lemon ices (yum, and perfect for a hot day), and recrossed the river over a bridge that was originally built in 60 BC. Walking in the footprints of Caesars....
Our last stop of the day was at the Area Sacra dell'Argentina, which is a fairly recent excavation area containing four temples. They haven't decided who they were dedicated to yet, but it was an interesting site. The site is also a dedicated cat sanctuary. I spent some time taking pictures of cats napping on the ruins... Each cat has been spayed or neutered and kept healthy. They knew that they were safe there.
All of the seven photos above were taken at the cat sanctuary at Area Sacra dell'Argentina. The last one shows an overview of the site.
We finally quit watching the cats and headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up for our last dinner in Rome. We hit the local ATM (very convenient way to refresh the money supply - much more convenient than traveler's checks), then returned to our favorite restaurant near the Pantheon for dinner, topped with gelato cones eaten while sitting on the steps of the Pantheon. While finishing off the cones, a group of teens (about 9 of them) started singing behind us, near the entrance of the Pantheon. Very good harmony. They specialized in spiritual songs, very appropriate for a former church setting, and were very good. A nice ending to our stay in Rome.