The Spanish Steps in the afternoon
Trip Start
Jun 03, 2010
1
28
56
Trip End
Jul 02, 2010
Rome, Lazio, Italy
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Once our visit to the Vatican was completed it was about noon and we were all hot, tired, and hungry so Robert, the NETC guide, walked us over to Piazza Navona and we had a couple of hours for lunch, exploring, and shopping. Piazza Navona reminds me a great deal of Mallory Square in Key West, Florida. There are three beautiful fountains in the square and around them street artists, mostly painters, were set up selling their wares. In the evening after dinner, the artist were still around but that is also when the entertainment comes out. The juggler’s, the break dancers, the guitar players, tap dancers, etc. and all around the square there are lots and lots of small café’s with outdoor eating spaces so everyone can enjoy the atmosphere. I had a wonderful time just people watching. Again a little side note, lunch is on our own everyday so about ten of us went to one of those little café’s and after we finished eating we had to divide the bill well we all learned a lesson. If you eat at a table outdoors there is a cover charge and if you order tap water it is 3 euro. I guess you could say capitalism at its best.
During our free time I went into the Pantheon. It is a Greek temple moved to Rome many years ago. The temple was built by Harridan and its unique feature is a 9m hole in the center of it's roof. It is the only dome in the world not supported by any columns and to have an opening right in the middle of the ceiling, it was cool. When it rains the floor is sloped with the highest point in the middle so the water naturally flows to the sides and then there are drains that take it away. Neat. Oh yes and a couple of important people are buried inside one of them being Rafael a painter who painted four rooms in the Vatican starting at the age of 21. The room was beautiful.
Between lunch and dinner we walked to the Spanish steps. It is really just another square. Its name comes from the fact that the Spanish Embassy is next to it. We walked to the top of the steps where there is a French Cathedral and we admired the view, it was great (112 steps in case you care). On our way down I was handed, not offered, flowers as a gift, well the gift giver then followed me down the steps and when I tried to return the flowers he kept insisting they were free. Well eventually Danielle took them and laid them at the guy’s feet and we walked away. Sometimes the street sellers are very pushy.
Today was a long, hot, tiring day but a very enjoyable one. As I said the weather was warm and the sun was bright all day but the streets are so narrow that we were mostly in the shade and a gelato mid-afternoon helped cool us off too.
Other interesting notes from today, when we were at the Vatican there were all men doing crowd control, no women. This isn’t really important except when we were in Russia it was all women and no men. The only difference I saw between Russia and Rome was in Russia the women all had dust clothes and were doing a little light cleaning between groups whereas the Vatican museum could have used a feather duster in a lot of places, I guess that just goes to prove, give a job to a woman and she is able to do more than one thing at a time, not so much with men.
Another interesting thing when we were in Northern Europe, Copenhagen, Helsinki, and Stockholm pedal bikes were everywhere, they even had bike lanes and traffic lights specifically for the bike riders. In Rome there are lots and lots of motorcycle type bikes or mopeds but no pedal bikes. I am not sure what that says but it’s a neat contrast.
Speaking of traffic in Rome, wow there is a lot of it. 99% of the cars are compact little things with the Smart car being a very popular choice, and the people of Rome must win an award for their parallel parking abilities. They can slide these little cars into the tightest spaces without ever touching bumpers, we all watched in amazement whenever we saw someone park their car. By the way my dad always talked about when he visited Rome years ago that the cars would drive on the sidewalks I never really understood what he met by that until now, the cars do drive on what we would consider sidewalks but to them are streets filled with walking people. They just toot their horns and you had better get out of the way because Italians drive at one speed, fast.
Remember the World Cup is going on well this afternoon during some free time Danielle and I turned a corner and were confronted with a sea of orange. A large group from the Netherlands were enjoying one of the outdoor café’s while cheering for their team on television which was next to an Italian flag it was a funny sight.
This one is a little intimidating. When we were around the Piazza Navano the police presence was huge. There were at least three vans full of police who were heavily armed, I’m talking automatic machine guns, all in the same area. The guide was unsure why they were all congregated. The funny part was every young lady who walked by caught the attention of every one of the police officers. You could stand and watch fifty armed guys ogling the pretty girls as they walked by. Strange.
By the way how many of you knew Pinocchio originated in Italy, I didn’t but there is Pinocchio stuff everywhere. It’s neat.
Ok running short on time so I have to close but tomorrow we head to the Colosseum and the Forum, luv to all Ann, Sam, and Danielle
