Day 3 continued in the Eternal City

I finally got to the church I had been wanting to see since arriving in Rome but never getting the timing right. It was a bit away from a metro station, and a walk uphill, but I made it happen.

There is a beautiful Bernini sculpture in this little church. It's another sculpture that was used in the filming of Angels and Demons, albeit it was noted in the wrong church, probably for production purposes. But as usual, Santa Maria Della Vittoria church had more to offer than this one sculpture.

How much can one little church hold? Well, it holds one of my favorite sculptures!

The Ecstasy of St. Teresa

I don't know why this has become my favorite so far, but I wish you could see the detail up close. It's beautiful. And I do love the gold coming down from heaven. I'm so glad I got to see it!

This church also had some beautiful stained glass windows.

Yay! I finally got to see the Bernini, now on with my day!

I was walking down one of the many narrow lanes typical of Italian cities, and happened to poke my head into one archway and found this beautiful courtyard of citrus orchard trees and this awesome looking building. It's an art gallery full of paintings by the masters . . . who would've known? Just walking along trying to find the Trevi Fountain and fell into this. Because it was getting late in the day and there were other things I wanted to see, I didn't go into this gallery. Next time.

And here it is! The Trevi Fountain. I was impressed, but would have been even more impressed had I not been fighting about a million other people to see it. Word to the wise - see the big ticket items on the weekdays!

Yes, I threw a coin over my shoulder into the fountain, hoping for a return to Rome some day.

An example of one of those really cute little shops I mentioned earlier, only this one had me when I saw
spices, pasta, and sauces.

Another golden find was a quaint little restaurant (they are all quaint and little) down one of
those alleyways. The server took me by the hand to my table, seated me in the window seat, and made
a recommendation. Done and done. Grilled sea bass, clams, and mussels spaghetti. Yummy!!!
Then the gentleman kissed my hand as I was departing. Old school charm. It's nice to be treated like that once and awhile.

Kept walking and found the Pantheon. Again, an awe inspiring sight on a piazza that was
crowded with people.


You can't see it but there is a line 10 people wide, 20 deep, all trying to get in. Not for me. Next time.

Between having to split this blog post up and having spent the last 3 days in a different city, I have no idea what comes next after the Pantheon.  I'm pretty sure it's the Spanish Steps so I'll start there.

I was really tired by this time - mostly tired of walking and it was so hot. Even the people who live here said it was hotter than usual. It was draining. I just kept pushing through it because hey, will ever come back? Oh yeah, I threw the coin into the Trevi Fountain, so yes!

Anyway, I'd heard a lot about the Spanish Steps, and I had just enough time to take the metro to that stop and still get back to my monastery before dark. I was sincerely disappointed with the Spanish Steps. Here's why - -  restoration! Only a little bit of the left side was open to the public. Bummer. Oh well, people who wanted to go up to the church at the top could still go, but not me. I walked around for just a few minutes, was given a rose by a nice man who also took my picture then asked for money. I told him my husband had all my cash.

This was the side - the majority - of the steps closed to the public.

 It was extremely crowded in this part of town and I learned why - major shopping hub. But not just your regular Target or Macy's. Nope. There was Pucci, Prada, Misoni, Chanel, and my personal favorite - -

My budget? A gigantic meringue!