Rome Day 2

Today we had a tour to see famous fountains and squares.

We met our guide at the Spanish steps. The steps were built between 1723 and 1726. They connect the Spanish embassy to the French church located at the top of the stairway.

The next stop was at the Trevi fountain. The fountain has a long history of supplying water to Rome. Its key location is at the junction of three roads and is supplied by an aqueduct 22 kilometers long. The construction of the current fountain was completed in 1762. It was highlighted in the 1954 film Three Coins in the Fountain. It was absolutely mobbed when we visited.

We visited squares with obelisks in the center. There are 8 Egyptian obelisks and 5 Roman obelisks in Rome. The Egyptian obelisks were transported to Rome after the Roman conquest in 30 BC. The Romans used special obelisk ships to transport the obelisks from Alexandria across the Mediterranean Sea and on to Rome. There are 5 Roman obelisks that were manufactured in Egypt during the Roman period at the request of wealthy Romans. They are scattered all over the city. This obelisk is in the center of the Fountain of Four Rivers built by Bernini in 1651.

We were scheduled to see the Pantheon but Mass was being held there. We were provided tickets to see it tomorrow if possible.

Our evening tour was a food tour in the district of Trastevere.  The tour began in a restaurant with a wine cellar dating back to 80 BC.  We sampled their slow cooked pork recipe traced back to Julius Caesar.

We travelled on to a couple of street food places where we sampled deep fried Italian rice balls stuffed with mozzarella cheese  and slow cooked pork (porcetta) sandwiches. The last stop included pasta carbonara and eggplant lasagna.

All of there courses were paired with the appropriate wine or beer.

If that wasn’t enough we stopped for gelato. Then we had a lovely walk back to our hotel. We walked across the Tiber river and enjoyed a night time view of St Peter’s basilica

It was a great day full of new things to see and enjoy.

Tomorrow:  The Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel.Læs mere