Crook in Rome

Mum has a cold, dad is sniffly too and my legs ache. This morning we took the car for it's last trip - to the airport drop off point. We also did our last wrong turn off which looked like a flower on the GPS screen. Anyway we made it safely and on time and it was a little sad to finally say goodbye to the car. We had done some 5000km in the car. I wish I had had a pedometer on me because it feels I've walked that far too. Today was no exception.

After taking the train back to Rome central we had a look for some new luggage bags and scales as mum has done a wee bit of shopping over this trip.



We then headed over to the Spanish Steps which like everything else was very popular.



There are lots of posh shops here but we headed up to the Borghese Gardens and Art Gallery instead. The gardens were open but the gallery was closed. It is Monday today.



After a meander, a gelato and a ride on the carousel



we headed back down the hill



towards the Spanish steps and walked to the Piazza di Popolo. It was very big and open.





Mum has been saying that Roma feels much more open than Florence, Venice or Siena. There are more piazzas and the streets are wider.

Location:Rome

Roaming in Rome

Sunday 16 October.

What a day!

It started out quite cold, but soon turned into a bit of a scorcher.

There were thousands of people in the Piazza outside St Peters, watching the Pope giving the Sunday Mass.



We walked down the road from St Peter's towards the river.




Mum and Dad decided Rome is a romantic city.



There's a castle by the river called Castel Sant'Angelo.




There were people walking and biking along the river bank.





There are hundreds of beautiful monuments in Rome.







This is the Four Rivers Fountain in the Piazza Navona. It was sculpted by Bernini in 1651 and it still looks amazing.







Dad has decided little cars are cool. This one looks like fun.



There are some palaces around the Piazza.



This is the Pantheon. It's the best preserved Roman building in the world! It used to have a roof of golden tiles, but one of the emperors took those off. Someone else took off the marble cladding and then one of the popes ordered the bronze ceiling be taken down and melted it down for his church and to make cannons. In spite of all that, it still looks awesome!




It has a massive dome made out of stone. This is it from the inside...






This is the Pantheon's front porch.

There must be hundreds of churches around Rome... We walked into this one and found some more amazing paintings!



I thought this church was so beautiful that I cried.


I thought this church was so beautiful I had tears in my eyes!


Later, Mum and I found this little truck!



We walked to the Trevi Fountain. It is carved out of white marble and it shone brightly in the sun.






There were lots of people throwing money into the fountain for good luck. We used ours to buy some gelato instead.







There was a military parade.






... but we just missed it.

There's a huge monument called Vittoriano. It's on a hill... So it has good views.








Behind it, there are lots of Roman ruins.


These reliefs are on a giant pillar.













I had to sort this Centurion out.



Then we found the Colosseum. It was too late to get in. So, as the sun set, we caught the Metro back to the Vatican and went home for dinner.

What? More pasta?

Location:Rome

On the way to Rome - our last stop

Saturday 15 October

It's a sad day as we are leaving our nice villa in Tuscany and heading for our last destination - Rome. We took a photo of the car before we left. Here's us in front of it.



Luckily, no scratches or dings.

Our trip to Roma was uneventful. We only stopped for lunch and toilet breaks. The scenery was lovely as all the trees were turning yellow and orange. The drive to our apartment in the centre of Rome was quite easy to get to. The GPS has done us proud. Our apartment is literally on the other side of the Vatican city's wall.



There's the wall behind me and mum. The entrance to the Vatican Museum and Sistine chapel is down the road, only 5 minutes walk away. After unpacking and resting for a wee while we had a stroll down the road to St Peters Square.







From this exact spot you can not see the other columns hiding behind the front columns.


Here's dad leap frogging in front of St Peter's Basilica.





Me and dad in front of the piazza. It's quite huge. When we were there was only a short queue to enter the Basilica. We thought we might as well join them. We only had about 30 minutes to look around before it closed.


This is Michaelangelo's Pieta. It is behind glass. So, we couldn't get close enough to see it well.


This is one of the several domes in the Basilica.


The sun was going down. So, it was getting dark inside.


There were lots of seats out ready for tomorrow's church service.


This is one of the Swiss Guards, who protect the Pope. They aren't clowns!









Finally, we headed home for dinner. Pasta again!

Ciao.

Location:Rome