Today was a highlights of Rome kinda day where we hit a lot of spots around this awesome city! It was another scorcher with highs in the upper 90s, and crazy humidity, but we did a better job today carrying and drinking water.
We started our Sunday morning with a simple breakfast at the Fusion Café near our hotel.
This included a sampling of Italian pastries and yummy cappuccinos (all of us but Sara).
For most of the rest of the day we did a hop on, hop off bus around Rome that started at the Roma Termini train station. We actually made most of the full loop three times. We did the first loop without stopping and listened to the audio tour of the city. On the next loop we made many stops.
At our first stop we had lunch at Trattoria Angelino, which claims to date back to 1658 (that would make it older than America).
There were several artifacts inside the restaurant dating back to earlier iterations of the restaurant back to the 18th century.
For our meal, we shared lasagna fatta in casa, fettuccine alfredo, gnocchi di patate alla sorrentina, and mezzo maniche alla carbonara. All of it was amazing!
After lunch we walked over to the magnificent Victor Emmanuel II National Monument (Vittoriano) that was built between 1885 and 1935 to honor Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a unified Italy.
Because of the shape, and white color, some people call it the typewriter or the wedding cake. There is a lot of construction going on around this monument right now, but we were still able to get to front to take some pictures.
Next we climbed to the top of Capitoline Hill (another of the 7 hills of Rome) using the 14th century steps outside Santa Maria in Aracoeli. This is a very long staircase, and we had to take several breaks walking up.
The basilica at the top is beautify and was built in the 6th century. It is the home of many, many tombs, and the gravestones are visible in the floor.
The most striking feature of this basilica is the gold ceiling.
Outside the basilica, there are amazing views of Rome from the top of the steps.
After this, we got back on the bus and made our next stop outside of the Castel Sant’Angelo beside the Tiber River.
We crossed the bridge to get a closeup of this structure that is near Vatican City and was completed in 139 AD as a Mausoleum for Emperor Hadrian.
From here we took a short walk to get another view of the Basilica of Saint Peter that we did not see yesterday.
For our next stop, we walked to the Spanish Steps, which climb a steep slope between Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church, at the top. The steps were built in 18th century with three terraces to represent the Trinity.
There are 135 steps in total, and originally started at the Spanish Embassy, which is why they are called the Spanish Steps. We started at the Trinità dei Monti church and then walked down the steps.
From here, we walked to the Trevi Fountain, which is an 18th-century fountain in the Trevi district. It was designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini in 1762 and several others. It stands 26 meters tall and 49 meters wide, making it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city. It is also one of the most famous fountains in the world. At Trevi, we waited in line to get down to the fountain and even witnessed a marriage proposal, after which the entire crowd broke out into applause.
Sara followed tradition and tossed a Euro coin into the fountain. A lot of people were actually tossing coins from the upper levels trying to hit the water, and both Kate and Olivia got hit in the head with coins.
The Trevi Fountain is a very, very crowded place, but it is stunning, and the water is crystal clear. It was cool to learn that it is still fed by an ancient aqueduct.
Kate then requested that we get back on the bus and make another loop and listen to the audio tour again, which was perfect since we were all exhausted. I took a few pictures and actually worked on my journal/blog post as I listened again. One place that we passed three times, but didn’t stop was Circus Maximus, which was built by Julius Caesar in the first century BC for chariot races. Today it is a concert venue.
Once we got off the bus, we took the Metro back to the Manzoni station near our hotel. For dinner we walked to Le Virtù in Tavola. We did a better job today of staying hydrated by carrying water bottles, so we didn’t need a repeat of last night’s water mayhem.
We again shared dishes including spaghetti alla carbonara, ravioli ricotta e spinaci, risotto alla crema di scampi, and tonnarelli caicos e pepe. The risotto contained two whole shrimp, and I mean whole! Not the peel-and eat type, but full eyes, legs, etc. This was quite disturbing to a couple of members of Team Agee. Anyway, the meal was again incredible!
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the same place for gelato and got a little more adventurous. Olivia had strawberry cheesecake with mascarpone, Sara had chocolate with stracciatella, Kate had crema with stracciatella and dulce de leche, and I had chocolate with pistachio and caffe. We all agreed that the gelato was amazing!
From there we headed back to our room and had a family worship service with communion. It was a good time to offer praise and remember what God has done for us, and as always the girls singing was beautiful. We then cleaned up and turned in for our final night in Rome.