Ok. You asked for it Vicki, you got it. More pics than you ever wanted to see. 🤣

Off to Rome

We arrived at the airport 3 hours early as requested. It was almost empty and took about 10 minutes from the car to our gate. The TSA agent was about to fall asleep because there was no one in line. 

Out of all the above paperwork and online forms the only thing we ever showed was our passport. I’m assuming that everything we uploaded to the American Airlines verify app was sufficient? 🤷‍♀️

Some  interesting facts about the flight. 

Catching the train to downtown Rome from the airport. 

Bonjourno! Border entry was a breeze as well. So thankful and so excited to be here. 

We’re on the train from the airport to downtown Rome now.  By now we’ve had these masks on nonstop for 14 hours. Ugh!

Kim found a nice little B&B called the Roman Residence just a few blocks from the train stazione. There is no sign on the building, just a street number next to the door. The inn is on the second floor. It was about 9:30 am when we got here but our room was ready so we could checkin and leave our bags. 

View from the window in our room. 

After a brief respite we started walking. I had marked many places to eat on the map (from Food Networks Bobby and Giada in Italy). We knew we wanted to go to the meatball (polpette) place so that’s the direction we headed.

There are motorcycles everywhere and the rules of the road apparently do NOT apply to them. 

There is also an abundance of ornate carvings in marble. 

Went by the Spanish Steps on the way. Whew!!!  View from the top of the Spanish steps. 

Starting to go down the steps. 

There was a man and his son who got into the fountain to get a drink out of it. All I could think about were the people sitting on the other side with their feet in it. Ewwww. 

From the bottom of the steps. 

Streets of Rome. 

We got to Dilla (restaurant) a few minutes before they opened so we decided to walk on over to the marble tile shop. Tucked away on the picturesque Via Margutta is La Bottega del Marmoraro. As soon as you take a step inside, you feel transported to an older time: wall-to-wall marble slabs with not a speck of uncovered wall in sight. It feels like a magical old workshop from a time long ago, and it’s home to one of the coolest souvenirs you can get in Rome (in my opinion).

The shop owner, Sandro Fiorentini chips away the marble creating these unusual marble tiles and keeping the art of marble work alive. I asked Mr. Fiorentini if he could make me a tile that said sojourn in Italian. After much back and forth (he speaks no English) and finally using a language translator app he said Sì, certo “soggiorno”. Torna tra cinque ore. (Yes, of course. Sojourn. Come back in five hours.) so we headed back to Dilla for lunch. 🤣

The red and cream stripe napkin is the traditional Italian style table linen, whether napkins, table runners or tablecloth. I may have to see if I can find some. 

They brought out a sack of bread to start. 

These are the restaurant specialty, pistachio meatballs. I know it sounds really weird but they are delicious! They have veal, mortadella, pistachio flour and parmesan in them. Soooo good. 

Kim had lasagna. 

The restaurant. 

The Tiber River that runs through Rome.  

Lots of marble sculptured fountains in Rome too. 

Back side of the Pantheon. The pantheon was a former Roman temple but since 609 has been a Catholic Church. 

The magnitude of the granite Corinthian columns is impossible to portray in a photo. The Pantheon’s dome is still the worlds largest unreinforced concrete dome. The height and the diameter of the interior circle are the same (142’). Amazing!

After all this walking it was definitely time for a gelato. 😁

More of those crazy motorcycles parked everywhere. 

The church of Saint Ignatious. 

Not sure where to begin describing this amazing artwork. 

The Presbytery frescoes painted between 1685 and 1701. The paintings illustrate the fundamental moments of Saint Ignatius’ vocation and the foundation of the Society of Jesus: the siege of Pamplona, the service given to the plague victims, the entry of Francis Borgia into the Society and the sending of Francis Xavier to the Indies. In particular, the apse depicts the vision of La Sorta (Rome).  

This is one of the most famous works of art by Andrea Pozzo known for its amazing effect. It is a fake dome. Through his painting he has created an optical illusion. Quite incredible!

The most famous painting represents the glory of Saint Ignatius of Loyola accompanied by the angels. 

This is a wood plastic model of the temple of Christ the King. Vincenzo Pazzo started the work at age 70 and completed it at 98 shortly before he died. The plastic is in scale at 1:200 and is made of various types of precious wood. His goal was to bring every one of every religion to one church, toward Christ, the only Way, Truth and Life. 

And now we come to the Trevi fountain. I did my best NOT to capture the thousands of people there. 

And here I am, hot, tired and sweaty, tossing my three coins into the fountain. 😁

Now back to the marble shop where my tile is completed and a photo op with Mr. Fiorentini. 

The finished product which I love love love!!!

This is kind of hard to see because of the reflection of the arches across the street. But if you look closely you can see the image of a woman which is a piece of art made entirely of chicken wire. The shading is done by adding layers of wire. It’s really amazing to see what people can make from found objects. 

Kim going into the coffee shop. 

So after much walking and sightseeing, we decided to head back to our room to shower off the plane, train and sweat of the day. Did I mention that it is hot here? After a little rest and cleanup, we headed back out for a little supper. 

This is one set of stairs leading up to our room. There is another set just like these and and additional two sets of six stairs each on the landings. One thing you are never short of in Europe is stairs. Right Jo Anne?

These are just beautiful flora around all the outside dining. 

We decided to try out the pizza for supper. When you order you hold out your hands and show how much you want. 

Our selection. Deliciouso!

Tiny little elevator up to our room. I’m closing out for tonight as Kim is already asleep and since I haven’t been to bed in two days, it’s time. Ciao!