The breakfast buffet at our Rome hotel was nothing to write home about, other than the fact that it way beat out the Hilton Garden Express (and I love the Hilton Garden Express) and you could pour your own cappuccino from the machine. Kathie and I got so we were sucking down two of those cappuccinos at each sitting. I would weigh a ton if I had one of those machines.
Then we took off for Piazza Navonna. Amazing what you might pass along the way.
And then we have three guys and a dog. I don't know how Kathie gets away with taking strangers' photos like she does.
Here's what I know about the Piazza Navonna. Built in 1st century A.D. on the site of the Stadium of Domitian, where there were "games" (I figure more animal slaughtering). Oy vey, the auras these places must have. Nowadays, a gazillion tourists flock to see the Baroque Church of St. Agnes and three fountains - Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi by Bernini, Fontana del Moro by della Porta, who also created the Fountain of Neptune (couldn't find the Italian name for that one).
That last one looks like we might have been in Pisa, but we weren't and here's proof - the Pantheon, right around the corner from the Piazza Navonna.
"I made this," said Agrippa.
Why were there so many tourists on a Tuesday in October? Why, oh why? I don't know but I love that oculus.
And then we have the Colonna di Marco Aurelio...
...and the Trevi Fountain.
Too many tourists! We had elbowed our way up to get that last pic and were trying to get a good selfie when another tourist offered to take a photo for us. She took a crap photo, handed back the phone, and then weaseled into our primo spot while we were looking at the phone! I think she was a professional tourist.
Janie had asked for a pic of the Spanish Steps.
Be sure to not sit down, though - the Spanish Steps police will fine you if they catch you sitting down.
On the way back across the river to have some lunch before we were to meet Francesca, we passed the Castel Sant'Angelo.
We had lunch at a little place close to the Vatican, where I had tonnarelli cacio e pepe, Kathie had some rice and shrimp thingy, and a couple of adolescent boys lunching at the table next to us - sans adults, mind you - ordered lasagna.
We met Francesca at 2 p.m. and went through a mob or three to enter the Vatican. Kathie took LOTS of photos. Here's the bronze Sfera con Sfera (Sphere Within a Sphere) by Arnaldo Pomodoro, 1990, in the Cortile della Pigna (Pinecone Courtyard). I thought it was cool.
And the Chiaramonti Museum, full of Roman portrait busts. A week later, an American tourist, supposedly upset that he wasn't allowed to see the pope, knocked over some of the busts and, well, busted them up. Embarrassing.
Apparently there are 24 Vatican museums. I liked the Gallery of Maps. Here's Francesca pointing out something on the map of Sicilia.
And this here tapestry on the left had Kathie all agog. The eyes of the character in red (I'm a little red-faced that I can't remember - Kath, was this supposed to be Jesus?) appear to follow the observer while s/he's walking by. There is, however, a rational explanation for this phenomenon but I'll leave that to you to look up.
Ah, the Sistine Chapel! We and 500 of our closest friends packed into the Sistine Chapel to bend our necks out of whack to see Michelangelo's famed and fantastically beautiful ceiling. Not how I remembered it from 50 years ago but what does an 18 year old know? Of course, no pics allowed, so you're on your own to look up whatever you can find on the Internet.
On to St. Peter's Basilica, the largest Christian church in the world. Overwhelmingly beautiful.
On this spot in 800, Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the HRE.
This is Bernini's Tomb of Pope Alexander VII in the south transept. Pretty cool. You should go read about it.
Here is Bernini's Baldachin over the remains of St. Peter. Supposedly.
And above that...
Awe inspiring. But nothing can prepare you for the Pieta. Oh, the Pieta. Just the sight of her choked me up. Michelangelo sculpted her when he was 26 years old. How did such a young man capture such beauty and emotion? Beyond all comprehension.
The sight of her, for me, was the highlight of the whole trip.
But we're not done. Outside, the Vatican guards were yucking it up.
Cute. And Bernini's fountain in the Square with the Vatican post office in the background.
A last selfie with Francesca and an evening view of St. Peter's Basilica. With so few tourists, it almost looks lonely.
On our way home, we again passed the Castel Sant'Angelo. This evening shot reminds me of Dan Brown's Angels and Demons book.
It is beautiful. One of my favorite sites in Roma.
