When in Rome - September 15, Rome (part 2)

September 15 (afternoon)

After a not-so-quick four hour nap, we were ready to take on Rome! 

We started navigating the narrow, hilly streets toward the Trevi Fountain. With my excellent planning skills and Brendan's sense of direction, we're an unstoppable traveling duo. 

First impression of Rome was that it is a BUSY city, with lots of people and activity. But I think everyone expects that of Rome, and so instead of being overwhelmed, I felt like Rome was behaving just as she was supposed to. 

Thanks to helpful signs guiding the way to "Trevi" and Brendan's uncanny sense of direction, the famous fountain appeared after about a ten minute walk. 

 The fountain was swarming with tourists, but it was still a great first site to see. 

After mugging for photos (almost literally with that crowd), we headed to find our next stop after another 10-ish minute walk: the Pantheon. This site is known as the best preserved structure of antiquity Rome and it didn't disappoint. Brendan said at the end of the trip that the Pantheon was his favorite church in Italy. 

The Pantheon was located in a square that seemed quiet when compared to the chaos surrounding the Trevi Fountain. It's massive-- you can't tell in photos, but it sits on several city blocks. It's hard to stand within those columns and not think of the milinea the building has seen.

 

If these walls could talk... 

 

Sitting in the Pantheon and plugged into our handy dandy Rick Steves' iPod casts. It would have been difficult to fully appreciate what we were looking at without our new pal Rick.  

The famous hole that has been letting in light (and rain!) since ancient Rome.

In front of the Pantheon, which is home to Raphael's tomb, and looking through the Pantheon's ceiling.

After the Pantheon, we walked to what became one of my favorite places in Rome, the Piazza Navona (photo right). This square boasts Bernini's famous 'Fountain of the Four Rivers' and the Palazzo Pamphilj, now the Brazilian embassy. To me, this square is what I dreamed Rome would be: its middle full of artists by day and street musicians by night, with outdoor ristorantes dotting the perimeter. Based on TripAdvisor reviews, I had made reservations at Cafe Bernini prior to our trip. After another 10 minute walk from the Pantheon, we were in the Piazza and found our restaurant at the north end of the square.   

For our first Italian dinner, we decided to eat like "real" Italians. We started with an antipasti (appetizer), primo (pasta- my lasagna was the best I had in Italy) and secondo (veal for me, pork for Brendan). Oh, and Peronis. (Too warm for wine!) 

We were so full after the bread and antipasti, we ended up only having portions of our primo and secondo courses, to the amusement of our server who kept reminding us that the Cafe was open until 2 a.m. and we had plenty of time to finish. 

The Piazza is known for its street musicians and tonight was no different. A young Italian guitarist entertained us during our meal with Guns & Roses and other 80's rock ballads.

At Cafe Bernini, our first Italian dinner! We liked our server, who played a joke on another table by giving them our bill and giving us theirs. I think we liked this prank a little more than the other, since we ordered three courses and they only had drinks. But Brendan, our server and I all got a kick watching the other table's bewildered reaction as they opened their bill!

After dinner, we passed the Trevi Fountain and Pantheon at night, taking time to walk around the Pantheon entirely and explore the much quieter (but by no means empty) square. 

 

Pantheon, night vision. 

 

Trevi Fountain, just as busy at night as during the day. 

We realized on our way to the Spanish Steps that Vogue was throwing a "Fashion's Night Out" event in Rome, and we saw lots of glamorous Italians shopping during the event. Since a lot of "real" Italians tend to avoid Rome's touristy areas, it was fun seeing "real" Romans! 

Because of the event, Vogue released hundreds of white balloons into the night sky a few meters from the Spanish Steps. But I like to pretend the celebration was for us. :) 

 Vogue's "Fashion's Night Out" event. 

Or maybe it was just Rome saying hello to us. We'll never know.

 Enjoying gelato on the Spanish Steps, just like Audrey in this post. :) 

 View of many, many people from the Spanish Steps.

After seeing the Spanish Steps and enjoying Vogue's welcome to us, we walked back to the hotel and determined our first day in Italy a success. 

Arrivederci!