Mediterranean Cruise Day 8: Rome, Part 3

At the end of our Vatican Trek, we found a restaurant. I wish I could remember the name of it-Shelly, Ken? Can you remember? It was without question the best food of our trip.

This is what I got- a salmon stake with grilled veggies. Delicious!

This was the best dish was this one: a simple pasta and sauce.

Dessert wasn't bad, even without gelato.

Now we were headed to the very very VERY best part of our time in Rome.

We are doing a Segway tour. Stan is getting some safety reminders, even though we've done this before. With Megan. In San Francisco.  Our guide was absolutely fabulous.

What a great idea, Bassetts! We ended up seeing more of Rome than I thought possible, added by our Segway Human Mover.

THIS IS FUN! 

I don't know why I've got that grumpy face on. Maybe because I'm cold and wet?

You've got to love our stylish raincoats and cute hats.

And we're off!!

I'm totally stealing borrowing pictures from Ken, who is much better and Segwaying and snapping pictures than I am. 

Rome has 2000+ fountains, more than any other country.

This one is Fountain of Four Rivers by Benini. It was unveil in 1651.

The fountain depicts four river gods, representing four major rivers of the world in the four countries in which papal authority had spread: Nile, Danube, Ganges, Rio de la Plata. The fountain was opposed by the people of Rome. The Pope who commissioned it forced the public to pay for it during the intense famine of 1646-48. Hand-written notes were attached to the obelisk that read "We do not want Obelisks and Fountains, it is bread that we want. Bread, Bread, Bread!" On the other hand, Pope Innocents claimed the unveiling of the statue was met by awe and admiration.

The Egyptian obelisk is made of Aswan granite. All fountains in Rome operate purely by gravity and were originally used as monuments, a source of city water for people and animals, and a source of beauty.

This is Fountain of the Moor. Originally designed by Giacomo della Porta in 157, it had four tritons and a center dolphin. Bernini later renovated it and

 added the center Moor holding the dolphin by the tail.

It's amazing how old and functional these fountains are.

The second fountain is the  Fountain of Neptune.  The base was made at the end of the 16th century. The sculptural decorations were added in 1873 and depict Neptune spearing an octopus.

 This is Piazzo Navona, original spot of a Roman Stadium.  It was built up in the 17th century.

Sant'Agnese in Agone is this church, named after St Agnes, martyred in 304 AD in the ancient stadium on this site.

Construction of the Baroque church began in 1652

 We motored over to the Pantheon. THE PANTHEON!! I can't believe I'm here.

The Pantheon means "temple of every god" and was a former Roman temple. The Pantheon was built in 126 AD. The Pantheon still is the site of the world's largest unreinforced concret dome.

The fountain was built in 1575 and modified in 1711. The obelisk was made during the time of Ramses II (1279-1213 BC).

More views of the fountain.

Several of the sculptures from this fountain have been removed and placed in museums.

 There are some, ummm....interesting ones left, like these "Revenge of the Killer Ducks".

The Pantheon is among the best preserved Ancient Roman buildings, mostly because it has been in continuous use.

Our tour guide was among the best I've ever had. He is a young man from Mexico who followed a girl friend to Spain. I wish I could remember his name. He was fun, knowledgeable, and smart.

Here, he is pointing out the Fountain of Youth spigot.

Stan tried it out. It didn't work. Stan, at your age, I think you need to drink a lot more of it.

 Look at the size of the door. The Pantheon is visited by around 6 million people a year.

 The hole in the dome is called an oculus and the source of natural light for the temple as well as a symbol of the connection of the temple to the gods above. Our guide said that rain seldom falls on the floor, but that the building is slightly slanted to allow the rain to quickly drain.

There are holes in the center of some of these marble circles to allow the water to drain.

The columns are 39 feet tall and dragged from 62 miles from the quarry to the Nile. They were floated down the Nile, transferred to a series of boats and barges to bring them to Rome.

These niches once contained Roman gods and goddesses but now house Christian themed sculptures.

 The Madonna of Clemency 

Experts are not completely sure what material of the structure of the Pantheon is, but appears to be a cement with superb strength. The interior is marble and other stone.

At his request, Raphael was buried in the Pantheon.  This is his tomb. His fiance is buried here also.

Annunciation, 15th century painting by Melozzo da Forlì

 Beautiful marble walls.

In addition to Raphael, there are two kings buried here. This crucifix marks one of the crypts.

 Looking up, I can see cracks and crumbles, but the Pantheon is not in bad shape considering its age.

This monument is called "Altar of the Homeland", built in neo-classical style in the early 20th century.  It is a controverial monument. Locals refer to it as the giant typewriter, the wedding cake, or zuppa inglese (a local dessert).

I'm okay with a grand monument that looks like a dessert.

 Close-ups of the monument.

 We are covering a great deal of ground on our Segways. This is the only way to visit Rome.

You can't go far in Rome without seeing a church.  This one is called "The Church of the Most Holy Name of Mary".

I don't know the name of this building, but look at that line!

 Our tour guide showed us this amazing water dispenser in Rome.

 It dispensed free plain or sparkling water. It was the best water I've ever tasted. 

There's always renovation going on in this ancient city. As I mentioned in an earlier post, our guide told us the new subway line is making painfully slow progress because anytime an artifact is unearthed in the making of the subway line, all work comes to a halt, archaeologists are called in, the item is carefully dug up and turned over to the Vatican.

Our guide pointed out the garbage cans were emptied out numerous times a day. These clear bags replaced the old, tradition street cans. They are intended to stop terrorists and troublemakers from planting explosives in the garbage and it's been very successful.

Segwaying to our next stop.

Yet another church.

We arrived at Trevi Fountain, the largest fountain of Rome and probably the best known fountain in the world. The sea-themed fountain took 30 years to complete.

Legend says that in 19 BC Roman soldiers were lead by a young girl to a pure spring water spot, leading Augustus to commission the construction of a 14 mile aqueduct leading to the city in this spot.

The mostly Travertine fountain was finished in 1762. 

 More than 3000 euros ($3163) are thrown into the fountain each day by visitors. The money is used to feed the hungry. I remember seeing an old 1954 film as a teenager called "Three Coins in a Fountain" which was filmed in Rome. The story was about three women toss coins into this fountain to wish for love and happiness. Of course, all of their wishes came true.

The fountain was completely cleaned, repaired, and restored in 2015.

What an amazing place!

Another church-St Maria in Trevi.

Another fountain, finished in 1629 by the father of the more famous Bernini.It was commissioned to commemorate the flood of 1598. 

The shape of the fountain is supposed to remind you of a stranded boat during the severe flooding of the Tiber River. 

The boat's ends are decorated with the Barberini coat of arms with suns and bees.

Next we headed to the steps of Rome, sans Segway. 

These 135 steps are intended to link parts of the city directly. They were finished in 1717.

Looking down from the top of the steps.

The buildings at the top.

Shelly met this nice man at the top who gave her some roses, then insisted she pay for them. Yeah... I avoided him like the plague.

We stopped at this store with several must-have ensembles like this one for five figures. I couldn't believe Stan didn't want me to buy it. 

Our tour ended where our journey began--the Colosseum. Quit that, Stan! We had so much fun traveling with Shelly and Ken. As much as I adore the grandkids, its nice to visit and have fun without any little distractions. I hope we can do it again.

Ken found us this great place to spend the night.  He and Stan had gone looking for it while Shelly and I meet up with our Vatican guide in the morning. It took them forever to find it--they nearly missed the tour.

Turns out they thought they were looking for THE Holiday Inn, but turns out we were in just Holiday.

Our room was sparse but clean.

Our colorful bathroom.

We saw so much and had a wonderful cruise. Spain is one of the few places I'd like to visit again. I feel like I saw just a fraction of every city we were in.