Giorno due a Roma!

Hello again, everyone! We apologize for the late entry, it’s just that we’ve been struggling with our internet connectivity and well, internet cafes are scarce her e in Roma. We started our day extremely early today, 5 a.m.! We both woke up early and couldn’t sleep any longer, so we decided to get up, get ready, and see the sites. We visited the Trevi Fountain first, and let me say, it was a sight to behold. It was almost empty, as it was only 7 a.m. and it was perfect. The swarms of tourists had not yet invaded the enormous fountain. We made it past the Gregorian University and il Museo de Cere (wax museum) with views of President Obama, Albert Einstein, Brad Pitt, and the stars of Italy—the Popes! The Vittorio Emanuele Monument was next on the list of sights, there’s a reason it’s referred to as the “wedding cake monument,” it’s a giant mass of bi-leveled marble deliciousness! It’s truly a spectacular monument, or building, it’s so massive, it probably takes up two entire city blocks! Just behind the Vittorio Emanuele monument sits the Piazza d’Aracoeli, complete with: Roman ruins, Santa Maria in Aracoeli and Piazza dell Campodoglio perched high above the city, various museums, and perhaps the best views of The Roman Forum and Colosseum. After leaving the wonders of the ancient city, we stopped in at Santa Maria della Consolazione before taking a morning stroll through the Circus Maximus. By 8 a.m., we had already visited countless sites and we were famished! We made our way to a café, where we had a colazione dal spezzo—a quick breakfast—you literally eat standing up at the counter. With full bellies, we walked to Santa Maria in Cosmedin, to relive the famous scene in “Roman Holiday,” in which Gregory Peck almost loses his hand in La Boca della Verita—The Mouth of Truth. Legend says that if one puts their hand into the mouth of the sculpture, it can detect a liar and it will bite one’s hand off! We tried it and it was fun! We are happy to report that no hands were lost during the visit. Happy to be whole, we made our way to Isola Tiberina, a small little island that sits on the River Tiber, which houses a hospital. After resting for a bit, we made our way through the Jewish neighborhood and the Teatro di Marcello, ruins that were built by Augustus.

As if we had not had enough action for one morning, we walked up to Campo de’ Fiori and strolled around it’s farmer’s markets and cafes. We were enticed by the fresh produce and bought some beautiful white peaches and juicy plums… yummy! After admiring all of the goods the venders had to offer shoppers, we headed off in search of Piazza Navona. Piazza Navona is one of the largest piazzas and was once used as a chariot raceway but thanks to Bernini, it is now home to three of his spectacular fountains! Finally tired—oh who wouldn’t be—we made it back to our apartment rental for a break. We were so tired, that the break turned into a nap! Feeling rested, refreshed and a little hungry, we decided to explore our neighborhood a little more while trying to find the perfect place for a snack. We settled on a little café, where Pox had a tuna and tomato Panini and Cindy had an amazingly, delicious, toasted salami and mozzarella sandwich on a rosmary chiabatta….she thought she heard angels sing when she bit into it! A long day and evening of exploration deserves a true reward—dessert! So off we went into the streets in search of something yummy and of all places, yes, we know, we ended up at Mc Donald’s. The Piazza di Spagna Mc Donald’s was featured on Food Network as one of the fanciest in the whole world…so Cindy had to check it out. It turns out that it has been remodeled since the show aired—boo—but the new and improved fast food chain now includes a Mc Café—yay! They even feature authentic Italian pastries such as torta di nona, tiramisu, and torta di ricotta e pera. We sampled a torta di nona, an almond and cream torte and mille foglie ( a thousand folds), a pastry made of phylo dough and cream…mmm. We can definitely say it was a sweet way to end the second night!