Rome Day 3

My love affair with Rome continues and today we did a walking tour to two of the most beautiful places in Rome - the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain.
We boarded the bus at our hotel and were taken to Peoples Square to begin our walking tour. We walked along streets with their elegant houses  and into squares with magnificent fountains and churches before finally reaching Piazza di Spagna, or as it is better known, the Spanish Steps.  Last time we were in Rome it was autumn so we didn’t see the wonderful flowers that lined the steps. The Lobelia and Bougainvillea make a spectacular backdrop to the 138 steps that link the Piazza to the twin towered church high above.

We walked along elegant streets admiring the stately homes and churches until we reached Piazza Di

After a photo stop and buying hot chestnuts to munch on we continued our walk to the beautiful Trevi Fountain where King Neptune’s Tritons guard the sparkling waters of Rome’s most beloved monument. You are meant to toss a coin over your shoulder into the fountain to ensure your return to the Eternal City but we unfortunately could not get close enough to do this.  Once again, the last time we were in Rome, Trevi Fountain was turned off and covered in scaffolding for a clean and refurbishment.  It apparently took awhile to do this but I’m so pleased that it has been done as it looks spectacular.

We continued our walk across the Via del Corso heading towards the Pantheon that is one of the best preserved of all Ancient Roman buildings, in large part because it has been in continuous use and since the 7th century has been used as a church. The building is circular with a portico of large granite columns. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda that is under a concrete dome with a central opening.  Almost two thousand years after it was built the Pantheons dome is still the worlds largest unreinforced concrete dome.

After the Pantheon, Philip and I left the tour group and made our way back to the Hotel via the same restaurant that we lunched at yesterday.  This time we both ordered the homemade pasta followed by a thin crust pizza.  MammaMia.  It was so good.
We headed back to our room at the hotel and began to re-pack our suitcases in readiness for our flight to Cairo the following day.  Our stay in Rome was all to short and we look forward to the time when we can return.