Italy- Day 1, Rome

Our 3 days in Rome was packed full of world famous landmarks, incredible art and delicious food.  After leaving work and going straight to the airport on Friday afternoon, we were in the airport in Rome by 10pm but it was almost another 2 hours before we got to our hotel, partly due to getting lost in the main Termini train station which was under some heavy renovation. When we popped out of the Spagna metro station and were greeted by the Spanish Stairs and the fashionable crowds wandering along Via del Corso, we knew we were in one of the capital cities of the world.

Piazza Navona

The first full day was one incredible sight after another for 10 straight hours.  We started fairly early and had made the short walk from our hotel to Piazza Navona by 8am.  It was a beautiful blue day and we enjoyed our take-away cappacino and croissants sitting on a park bench near the fountain before the crowds of tourists arrived.

Fountain of the Four Rivers

We stopped off at a few nearby churches- Sant'Agostino and San Luigi dei Francesi which both contain famous paintings by Caravaggio, Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza whose intricate dome towers over it's beautiful column lined courtyard and Sant'Andrea della Valle which had an ornately decorated gold plated ceiling.

Caravaggio's Inspiration of St Matthew & Martyrdom of St. Matthew at  San Luigi dei Francesi

The courtyard at Sant'Ivo

Sant'Andrea della Valle

As we wandered out of Sant'Andrea della Valle we walked past Largo di Torre Argentina, a square that contains the ruins of several BC built Roman temples and the alleged spot of Julius Caesar's assassination. It was incredible that it was right there in the middle of the city, surrounded by normal modern life- a bus stop, a car-filled round about, a grocery store.

Largo di Torre Argentina

Our next stop was the Pantheon, but before we went there we visited Santa Maria sopra Minerva which was just outside.  This church had a statue of Christ from Michelangelo inside, and a statue of an elephant from Bernini outside.  Nothing however could compare to seeing the Pantheon for the first time- this massive concrete dome was breathtaking.  Its ancient looking exterior hid a very well maintained interior.  It really gave a sense of how deceptively large the building was when we read that the oculus (the hole in the top of the dome that provides natural sun light) is actually almost 8 metres in diameter- from the ground it looks much smaller than that.

Michelangelo's statue of Christ

Facade of the Pantheon

Inside the Pantheon

Sunlight from the oculus

After a quick gelato stop, we visited the Sant'Ignazio church which has, instead of a dome as was originally planned, a cleverly painted ceiling that makes it appear as if the dome is actually there.  The optical illusion disappears as you walk around and view the painting from a different angle.

Fake dome painted ceiling in Sant'Ignazio

We wandered through the streets for a while, past the column of Marcus Aurelius, before catching a bus to the Villa Borghese park for our pre-booked visit to the Galleria Borghese.  This gallery, home to , is one of the most famous and popular galleries- Despite our pre-booked tickets we had about a half hour wait outside the gallery and although we were glad to give our feet a rest while we ate some lunch, it was so hot that it was uncomfortable.  Once we were in the air conditioning that was all forgotten as we enjoyed the works by Bernini, Caravaggio and Raphael.  The audio guide was extremely useful as I don't know much about art and it really helped to give some context on the works.

Resting outside Galleria Borghese

Villa Borghese Park

The Villa Borghese park was quite big and had really cool trees, but it was dangerous as it was full of tourists on pedal powered carriages who were always threatening to run you down.  We came out at Piazza del Popolo at the top of Via del Corso, and found that the Champions League trophy was currently on display as part of its European tour.  The line was too long to get in, so instead we walked up to the hill which overlooks the piazza and were rewarded with some stunning sunset views over the city.

View of Rome from above Poazza del Popolo

After a stop off back at our hotel, it was off to dinner which was had at a pizza restaurant in the back streets of Campo di' Fiori.  We sat at a table that had a view of the pizza chef putting the freshly made pizzas into the wood fire oven.