Cindybelle's Bella Notte TR COMPLETE!! - UPDATED 10/19 With Prices! - Page 8 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Then it was on to the Pantheon, a mathematically precise structure from around 120 A.D.
Of course, structural engineers like Rick and Paul are fascinated by the fact that the dome is as high as it is wide (about 142 feet, either up or side-to-side) and that the dome is made from concrete that gets lighter and thinner as it reaches the top. The base of the dome is 23 feet thick and made from heavy concrete mixed with travertine. Near the top, it's less than 5 feet thick and made with lighter volcanic rock (pumice) mixed in.
I almost wish it had still been raining, because it would have been neat to be inside and watch it pour through the big "missing" piece (actually, never completed). As it was, we had to settle for enjoying the puddle of water next to the floor drain!
Since about the 7th century A.D., the Pantheon has served as a Catholic "churcha-churcha." Really beautiful and serene.
But also magnificent.
Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. Absolutely amazing.
We were getting tired, so decided to take a taxi to the Spanish Steps, which is known as a lively gathering space. I kept thinking of the scene in Roman Holiday when young Audrey Hepburn comes prancing down the steps with a gelato and bumps into handsome Gregory Peck -- and apparently I am not the only person to be reminded of this scene, because we saw it on movie posters.
At the base of the steps is Fontana della Barcoccia ("Fountain of the Old Boat"), built around 1628. Everybody uses it to cool off.
We went into a beautiful Baroque "churcha-churcha" at the top of the steps, and then headed back down. We were and there was a place recommended by Rick Steves down there, about 100 yards to the left after exiting the steps.
.
.
I was searching for this place after reading about it in Rick Steves' Rome 2009 book, and it wasn't difficult to find. Despite the Spanish Steps being such a touristy area, this ristorante is tucked away, near an office building -- and we could tell the place is frequented by nearby workers. We sat outside, under a canopy, and had one of the most delicious meals of the trip. Unfortunately, I failed to record what everybody ordered, but I remember that it was all really, really, REALLY good. We definitely had fresh fruit and cheese. Oh man, my mouth is watering.
I do have a photo of my dessert -- and this is the place where Robbie had the flan that I showed you in my earlier "food" part of this thread. I ordered Panna Cotta con Cioccolato (cooked cream with chocolate).
I still remember how fabulous that tasted. Wish I could pop back over there and order it again! Who's with me????
I forgot to mention that when we were on the Spanish Steps, a street vendor "got" us by thrusting a rose each into Robbie's and my hands, insisting, "Free! Free!" We fell for it, and then the man turned to Paul and demanded money. We kicked ourselves later for not dropping the roses right then and there, but we didn't -- and so Paul paid the man. So now we're stuck with wilting roses the rest of the day. At the ristorante, Rick said, "Paul paid good money for those," so Robbie and I posed with them. Molto grazie, Paulo!
When we went inside to use the toilette, I took my camera along -- I mean, you never know when you'll see something pretty, right? One of the servers offered to take our photo against a beautiful wall full of cookware, so why not?
Outside where we sat was pretty nice, too.
Oh boy, now I'm looking at that bread and remembering how yummy it was. Can you hear my stomach growling all the way to where you are, reading this?
More wonderful updates - you're taking me back to so many great places. The Trevi Fountain is stunning in person and I love the Pantheon, it's quite a marvel.
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Prior to leaving St. Louis, I had made the (required) reservations for the 15:00 entrance time to Galleria Borghese, which allows 360 people in every two hours. This palazzo is gorgeous and was built just to house Cardinal Scipione Borghese’s magnificent art collection, which includes Bernini sculptures and paintings by Caravaggio, Raphael, and Titian. In pursuing the optimistic spirit of the Renaissance, these artists invented Baroque. While Renaissance works were designed to be seen from the front, Baroque is in-the-round, full of action.
After lunch, we headed to the underground. We walked through that, past shops and a grocery store, until we came to the Borghese exit. (Full sun again, so walking underground was nice and cool.) Our feet were pretty tired, as were we by this point in the day, but I'm still glad we saw at least some of the beautiful Borghese Gardens area on our way to this incredible palazzo built just to house a priceless art collection. Photography is strictly prohibited, so I have nothing to show you here.
My advice: Save the Galleria Borghese for a 4th day in Rome. But since we didn't have a 4th day, we did it on the 3rd day and only suffered slightly from the extra stress to our already-sore feet and backs. We only stayed one hour, because we wanted to use the underground to take the subway to Rome's Termini (train station) so we could purchase our tickets to Florence (Firenze) for Saturday. Once we had the tickets in hand, we took the subway back to the Colosseo stop, then walked the short 6 blocks back to Hotel Nerva.
Friday night, we again dined at Mario's. That time, Paul got the seafood risotto. I don't remember what else we ate (but it was all excellent), other than the fabulous lemon sorbet and dark chocolate gelato again (alternating spoonfuls of each -- super ). I asked Enzo if I could get my picture taken with him, so now we can always remember how much we enjoyed our dinners at Mario's in Rome.
Several of you have commented on how much we managed to do each day. Well, we did so much on Thursday that even I doubted my notes. (Robbie and I both kept a journal and are so glad we did -- the memories start evaporating pretty fast when you're seeing and doing so much each day.) So yesterday I asked Rick, "Hey, when did we take the night shots of the Colosseum?" When he replied, "That was Thursday," I couldn't believe it.
Yes, Thursday -- that's after getting to the Vatican Museum at 08:30, walking around there until we went to St. Peter's Basilica around 15:00 (3:00 p.m.), then walking out of there around 18:00 (6:00 p.m.), then wandering the back way to Hotel Nerva (arriving around 19:00 -- 7:00 p.m.), then having a huge dinner at Mario's. Well, Rick reminded me that as we walked back from the Vatican Museum and passed the Colosseum, he said, "I'm going to come back here after dinner and get some time-exposure night shots." And I replied, "Have a good time."
Well, after eating the huge meal (and remember my two vodka tonics, so my feet were no longer hurting -- as far as I could tell ), none of us felt ready to get in a reclining position. We stopped at the hotel so Rick could get the lightweight tripod he'd brought from home ("lightweight" being a relative term ), and the four of us walked the short distance to the Colosseum.
SO glad we did this. Rick and Paul enjoyed running across the busy street to obtain various vantage points. Robbie and I alternately sat and stood out of the way, enjoying the night air and the beautiful, uplit ancient structures surrounding us.
At one point, Robbie and I were discussing the option of sitting down when we heard Paul's voice behind us: "Ladies, don't move." The guys were including our backs in the picture! I think this will be the cover of my "Rome" book when I get around to creating one on Digital Photo Printing, Free Online Photo Albums & Digital Photo Sharing - Snapfish: AND there was a full moon rising, which we didn't know about until we got there. How is that???
So although these photos are from Thursday night, they make a nice "finito" to the Rome part of my Trip Report. On Saturday morning, we took the train to Florence (Firenze). We took so many photos in the 5 days we spent in that amazing city that it will take me awhile to sift through them and find the ones YOU will most enjoy. So I'll say arrivederci for now and hope to get back to you later in the week with stories and pics from Florence.
That's me on the left and Robbie on the right. Were the guys using the back of a parked jeep for the tripod at this point? Beats me!
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INCREDIBLE shots, cin....just love them...wow, i really wish i could have gone with you...i definitely think you need to organize a pp tour of churcha-churcha and fooda-fooda in italy!
Wow!! So many amazing pictures! And all the food sounds wonderful. I never knew how much I would want to visit Rome until reading this TR.
(And it keeps reminding me of the book Angels and Demons.)
Pam, I know what you mean. Our primary focus was on Florence (Firenze), and that's our favorite part of the trip -- but Rome was incredible, and I can certainly imagine spending a week or longer there. If you enjoy travel, I encourage you to visit Rome. Like us, you can easily take a train to Florence, which is smaller than Rome and definitely pedestrian-friendly. (We could have stayed a month in Florence and still not seen everything there.)
As great as Rome sounds, can you imagine what my Florence descriptions and photos will be like? Just wait and see!
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and there was a place recommended by Rick Steves down there, about 100 yards to the left after exiting the steps.
PassPorter Guide Author
So beautiful there! 
Laurie A. Malinowski(LAMs)
), none of us felt ready to get in a reclining position. We stopped at the hotel so Rick could get the lightweight tripod he'd brought from home ("lightweight" being a relative term 
is that???
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