When in Rome

Just a quick update from Rome! This morning we had a slightly hellish experience in the Naples train station...nothing involving theft or the endangerment of personal safety, but suffice it to say that it involved an unmarked track number, a missed train, running from ticket booth to ticket booth in hopes we'd be helped, and finally catching a train that we had to pay more money for once on board. Luckily we were helped by some very kind people who took pity on us (including the station's janitor who was actually the most helpful) and we found that our Italian held up well enough under a lot of stress.

We made it to Rome, a little later than expected, but with the whole afternoon to enjoy the city. We really got all we could out of Rome. Even though we'd all been to Rome before, we wanted to see as much of the city as we could, again. And being three art history enthusiasts, we let the art guide us. It was a very Bernini-themed day! We started out by visiting the Pantheon, then went to a cafe Nicole had been to before for Granita di Caffe con Panna, a specialty of this particular cafe. It was cream, a large scoop of iced granulated espresso, topped with more cream. Basically caffeinated heaven in a cup. Caitlin and I shared one, it was a bit too intense for us to handle alone. But outstanding nonetheless.

From the Pantheon we walked past the Trevi Fountain (Bernini masterpiece #1) and then to San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (Bernini #2). After that we saw the beautiful Ecstasy of Saint Teresa altarpiece sculpture (Bernini #3) in Santa Maria della Vittoria, and also peeked inside a church across the street called Santa Susanna. We then took the metro to St. Peter's, and sat and gazed at the cathedral, piazza, and colonnade (Bernini #4) for a few minutes before venturing inside. Inside, we saw Michelangelo's Pietà, as well as Bernini's massive Baldacchino, and statue of Saint Longinus (#5 and 6). I had forgotten how truly astounding St. Peter's is. The ceiling alone is so high that you lose your sense of perspective. We almost didn't go inside, since we had all been before, and were enjoying the piazza so much, but it was definitely the right decision.

After St. Peter's we walked to Ponte Sant'Angelo, our final Bernini of the day. From there we walked along the Tiber River until we arrived in Trastevere, a neighborhood not far from where we're staying, which is supposedly the cool, less-touristy area, excellent for food. Our dinner was slightly less impressive than others we've had, but the good thing about food in Italy is that even a mediocre meal is still really, really good. And the neighborhood was very nice.

So that was our busy day (afternoon, really - all of this took place in about 4 hours, before we sat down to dinner). Luckily we walked enough today to justify all the delicious food we've been enjoying! Hope you're enjoying the links to wikipedia, sorry if they get a bit tiresome, but it's the easiest way to connect a visual to all the sites I'm rambling off, until I can hook up my camera to a computer. Tomorrow afternoon, we'll be in Bologna!

P.S. Last mention of this, I promise - if you didn't read my previous post, and want an email notification when I publish a new post, let me know. No pressure for my friends, I figure this is just for family!