After leaving my second visited country of the day (since The Holy See is an independent nation), I headed back to the metro to the Spagna stop where I would check out the
Spanish Steps. Any travel show that mentions Rome visits this site and that of the Trevi Fountain (my next stop). It seems to be a requirement to simply sit here for a short while with a bit of Gelato (Italian ice cream that is a good bit more rich than the American counterpart) and watch the world go by. The name,
Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti, was derived since the steps (the widest and longest in all of Europe) are located next to the Spanish embassy to The Holy See, even though they were built with French funds. Since it was relatively late, it wasn't overly crowded, so I was able to enjoy a first chance of the day to really sit down and not have to stare at anything.
My final destination of the day was the
Trevi Fountain, another incredibly popular tourist site. since it was a smaller piazza, it was a bit more crowded here. since there are no roads that go by, and since it is surrounded by narrow streets, one almost stumbles upon this grand display of water, marble, and stone. Tradition apparently holds that visitors can assure their return to Rome by tossing a coin over their shoulder into the water. It seems to be such a popular thing that I heard an estimated 3,000 euros is collected from the site each night. I sat here for quite a while contemplating a lot of things as there has been quite a bit weighing on my mind recently, so the sound of water drowning (pun intended) out the noises of the crowd was soothing. I've never been too superstitious, but I actually decided to not throw in a coin since I figured I might never want to visit Rome again after this trip (even though I planned to be back in another 9 days before flying out), but we'll see.
One thing though learned on this first day, 'when in Rome'... no seriously, 'do as the Romans do'; especially when involved in pedestrian vs small/large vehicles conflicts of personal space. Sidewalks are narrow and can sometimes completely disappear. If you ever need to cross a street, don't wait for the uncaring light to tell you it's safe, team up with an elderly Italian woman or a person pushing a stroller. It sounds a bit bad, but if you want to survive side with a team that won't lose, no one is going to feel good about running over an old lady, and strollers are practically bullet proof when it comes to cars, then blend in.
After leaving my second visited country of the day (since The Holy See is an independent nation), I headed back to the metro to the Spagna stop where I would check out the Spanish Steps. Any travel show that mentions Rome visits this site and that of the Trevi Fountain (my next stop). It seems to be a requirement to simply sit here for a short while with a bit of Gelato (Italian ice cream that is a good bit more rich than the American counterpart) and watch the world go by. The name, Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti, was derived since the steps (the widest and longest in all of Europe) are located next to the Spanish embassy to The Holy See, even though they were built with French funds. Since it was relatively late, it wasn't overly crowded, so I was able to enjoy a first chance of the day to really sit down and not have to stare at anything.
My final destination of the day was the Trevi Fountain, another incredibly popular tourist site. since it was a smaller piazza, it was a bit more crowded here. since there are no roads that go by, and since it is surrounded by narrow streets, one almost stumbles upon this grand display of water, marble, and stone. Tradition apparently holds that visitors can assure their return to Rome by tossing a coin over their shoulder into the water. It seems to be such a popular thing that I heard an estimated 3,000 euros is collected from the site each night. I sat here for quite a while contemplating a lot of things as there has been quite a bit weighing on my mind recently, so the sound of water drowning (pun intended) out the noises of the crowd was soothing. I've never been too superstitious, but I actually decided to not throw in a coin since I figured I might never want to visit Rome again after this trip (even though I planned to be back in another 9 days before flying out), but we'll see.
One thing though learned on this first day, 'when in Rome'... no seriously, 'do as the Romans do'; especially when involved in pedestrian vs small/large vehicles conflicts of personal space. Sidewalks are narrow and can sometimes completely disappear. If you ever need to cross a street, don't wait for the uncaring light to tell you it's safe, team up with an elderly Italian woman or a person pushing a stroller. It sounds a bit bad, but if you want to survive side with a team that won't lose, no one is going to feel good about running over an old lady, and strollers are practically bullet proof when it comes to cars, then blend in.
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