Roma!

The picture above is a classic example of Rome: street signs no one follows, gelaterias everywhere and St. Peter's looming in the background! Today was our first day in Rome and after we checked into our new accommodations (cool apts!) we headed out for a walking tour of the city. 

along a main street

Romulus, Remus and the she-wolf

The picture above is of Castel Sant' Angelo which was originally a mausoleum for emperor Hadrian and is now a national museum. This place was also used as a prison and a papal residence. There is an above ground covered passageway that the popes would use to travel from the Vatican to this safe fortress during times of trouble. This passageway was mentioned in Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, which was a book a very much enjoyed and the tour guide seemed to know a lot about all of the connections from the book to the real inspirations in Rome.

horse statue!

I don't remember what this place was called but the facade sure looked awesome! Lots of old buildings in Rome are now used as government buildings or embassy offices of foreign countries.

The river Tiber

This is the fountain at Piazza Navona one of the large roman plazas in town. It is a representation of Neptune fighting and octopus.

This is an ancient egyptian obelisk that the Romans stole during the height of the empire. They shipped these obelisks back to Rome to be used as markers for those traveling from far away, and later for pilgrims coming to the Vatican.

This is another fountain that represents four rivers from the four known continents at the time: Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas. The one with the cloth over his head has his face hidden because at the time the source of the Nile river was unknown.

another old church that is now part museum/part embassy

 The Pantheon! Apparently when it was first built, the old town buildings surrounded it so that the outside looked rectangular and the circular/almost spherical inside was a surprise! The infamous oculus was amazing to see as well as all the sculptures inside. This is one of those places that I have always seen in books, but have never been able to picture such a thing existing in this day and age!

another obelisk

Some buildings are so big it's hard to get them all in one shot. There's not enough room on the street to back up that far!

Finally, here is the famous Trevi fountain, which is at the end of a roman aqueduct that it is powered by. Rome had 7 aqueducts for the one city alone! 

Next up: the Spanish steps, so named because of their connection with the Spanish Embassy in Rome. This church at the top of the stairs is named Trinita dei Monti and the stairs are split up into three flights to represent the trinity.

This a roman statue in Piazza del Popolo, plaza of the people. They were setting up stands for some event in the square.

another view from the square

close up of the obelisk that leads to St. Peter's

And with that we had made a very large semicircle and had done lots of walking so it was time to take the metro two stops west to walk back towards the apartments. What a long but very excited--and monument filled--day!