Rome - Part 1

Today, I would like to start sharing our visits to Rome. We have so many pictures, that Rome will be divided into several parts.

What most people do not realize, is that the Boat docks in Civitavvechia, Italy, which is about two hours from Rome. Most people go from Civitavvechia by either bus or train. This makes for a very long day.

Since this was our first time in Rome, we took a tour of the highlights of Rome and the Vatican. So, we start with typical countryside as we drive into Rome.

As you can see, this area is very dependent on agriculture.

As we get closer to the outskirts of Rome, we pass a number of interesting structures, including an old Roman viaduct. It seems that everywhere we look we see old (I mean really old) things.

Our first stop is the Trevi Fountain. Like all European cities, we are not dropped off at the fountain, but several blocks away. So, we begin walking, one of many for this day.

As we walk the narrow streets, we quickly realize that these narrow streets are just not for pedestrians.

As we come to the Piazza Di Trevi, we find out that this Piazza is nothing more than where five streets come together. At first, you can't even see the fountain because it is lower than the street level. At this point, I am a little "un"-impressed with this famous fountain. Where is it?

As we get closer and look down, there it is. I mean, there it is!

The building is actually an integral part of the fountain. It is truly amazing and I take back all "un"-impressive thoughts I had at that point.

And then, we begin to see the individual items of the fountain.

While your attention is drawn to the fountain, the buildings around the piazza are impressive in there own right.

From here, we are going to walk to the Pantheon. But before we do that, it is tradition that you must throw a coin into the fountain over your shoulder. Folk lore insists that if you throw a coin into the fountain, you will return to Rome again.

As you can see, the early morning shadows made taking pictures of the fountain difficult. However, I think you can see that Rexie and I did throw our coins into the fountain.

Guess what? The folk lore is true! It was not a week later that we once again came back to visit Rome.

In the next blog, I will continue our visit to Rome and especially the Pantheon.