My holiday got off with a rocky start. It took forever to get to Rome. We left on a Saturday afternoon from SA to Dallas, just a hop,skip and a jump, a 45 minute plane ride. We were to leave an hour after we got there. The plane to take us to Madrid was delayed 3 1/2 hours. That made us miss our connecting flight from Madrid to Rome. I was not a happy camper because we could not get another flight until 8 hours later. The Madrid airport is a shopping mall but it did not matter to me. The 9 hour grueling ride over the Atlantic ocean and having to sit 8 hours in an airport did not entice me to shop. I don't care how much shopping. Almost 24 hours later I finally get to Rome about 11 pm Sunday.
The tours begin the next day after a decent night sleep. Marcia had us walking the first day, no buses or metro. The metro is the subway by the way. I really liked the metro.
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| Ponte Sant' Angelo |
This is the bridge leading to Castel Sant'Angelo. All along the bridge are Bernini designed angels. In the middle ages this was the only bridge that connected St Peter's and the Vatican to downtown Rome.
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| Castel Sant'Angelo |
We toured Castel Sant'Angelo on another day.
Bernini's Angel
Here is one of the angels. Each statue bears a symbol of the passion of Christ; nail, sponge, shroud, etc. I took pics of most of them. I think Rome must be the city of statues. I love it, but after a while I did not know what I was looking at. I did take "Rick Steve's Rome" with me. I highly recommend it. I learned so much by following along on some of his tours in the book.
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| Walking along Via dei Coronari |
This is where I fell in love with Rome. Yes on the very first day. Marcia led us down Via dei Coronari on our way to Piazza Novona. A lot of the streets look like this, not all. Rome is a very busy city and has lots of cars and millions of motorcycles. There are busy streets mixed in with these beautiful, quaint tiny little streets. This is where I could get lost taking one picture after another.
Marcia, Caz, Diego, Jerry
I don't know where Donna, Doug and Margaret are.....probably gawking at some of the windows. I know Donna and Margaret were maybe not Doug. :)
Window on Via dei Coronari
We walked on to Piazza Novona, the Pantheon and ended the day at St Peters basilica. Pictures of those will be posted tomorrow. :0.
Hugs,
Charlie
How lovely to be sharing in your trip. I've never been to Rome but would love to go some day. Can't wait to read more about the trip soon!
ReplyDeleteShame about that dreadful flight. That sure was a tough one.
Oh, what beauty! The sculptures alone would make it worth going. I love how old everything is, it's amazing.
ReplyDeleteI think the main thing that has kept me from saving my money like crazy for a trip to Europe is the grueling travel to get there. A stupid reason I know. It just seems so far away, and now travel is harder than ever. But your photos have convinced me that the inconvenience is worth it!