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Sunday we walked to the old part of town where all traffic was banned from the town center making walking very pleasurable. We strolled from the hotel at the Spanish Steps toward the Colosseum. Our first stop was the Victor Emmanuel Monument - a very impressive building but pretty new by Roman standards - built in 1911.
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Behind the Victor Emmanuel Monument are ancient apartments that lead to the capital area featuring the Cordonata staircase designed by Michelangelo. He also designed the paving in the plaza square. It is beautiful as are the buildings that served as the seat for Rome's government.

There were several weddings going on - you can see a bride over Virginia Ann's left shoulder - center of the picture.

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In the capital area are the Palazzo Nuovo and Palazzo Conservatori which house many of Rome's treasures. Palazzo Nuovo was the first public museum and includes the famous Etruscan She-wolf from the 5th Century. The twins, Romulus and Remus were added in the 15th century
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From the museums we traveled through the old Roman Forum The Temple of Saturn is the structure on the left. The single column to the right is the Column of Phocas - one of the youngest items dating to 608 AD. The Colosseum visible at the far end of the vista.
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We arrive at the Colosseum. Commissioned in 72 AD on a marshy piece of land. The 80 arches are the most striking feature - beautiful from the inside.

Here we witnessed the first of many strange acts by tourists - using a camcorder to film the line of people waiting for tickets.

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A short walk to the Pantheon - but on the way a stop at a very pretty church - the Santa Maria sopera Minerva which is Rome's only Gothic Church. Outside is an elephant supporting an obelisk created by Bernini in 1667. This church has the most beautiful ceiling of all the churches we visited - bright blue with stars of gold. Cal is standing near the obelisk outside the church.
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The Pantheon is lit by natural light from the top of the dome, inside is Raphael's tomb. Here we got lost and stumbled into the Temple of Hadrian which now is only the facade to a modern building and the Piazza di Sant' Ignazio. Below is a view of the Piazza.
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On to the Palazzo di Montecitorio sporting a set of curved building around the plaza designed by Bernini. Then a walk back toward the hotel and a stop at the Trevi Fountain where Virginia Ann tosses a coin hoping for a return visit to Rome.
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Another shot of the Trevi Fountain
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And back to the Spanish Steps where the crowd is teaming. No matter the time of day the steps are always crowded.

In the 17th century, Spain's ambassador to the Holy See had his headquarters on this square, and the surrounding area was deemed Spanish territory. The fountain is the Fontana della Barcaccia designed by Bernini. The steps were built to connect the church, Trinita dei Monti, with the Piazza di Spagna.

 

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While in Rome we stayed at the Piazza di Spagna . It was a wonderful hotel with great service - Roberto and Patrizia were very helpful - suggesting restaurants and even making our reservations at the Ufizzi in Florence. The rooms open to the streets below and are within a block of the Spanish Steps. With two windows open we could hear the sweet voice from an Italian opera at a nearby ristorante.

For info here is the contact:

Hotel Piazza di Spagna
Address: Via Mario dé Fiori 61
Phone 039 06 679 3061
E-mail: info@hotelpiazzadispagna.it
Web: www.hotelpiazzadispagna.it

We dined on the rooftop cafe at called Ristorante il Valentino (36 10 880). The Maître d' was great suggesting courses and wine so we opted to return on the last night of our visit to Italy.

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