As we walk along Via della Conciliozione, leaving St. Peter's Basilica and St. Peter's
Piazza behind, we walk past the Roman guards taking prisoners for hostage and we walk past
the cowboy mannequin collecting change, don't ask, we move along the bank of the Tiber River
towards Castile San Angelo, also known as the mausoleum of Haddenen. Castile San Angelo
was a towering, syndical building initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian
as the mausoleum for himself and his family. The building was later used by the Pope as
a fortress in Castile and is now a museum. The Tiber, or an Italian taveri, is the third
longest river in Italy and has achieved lasting fame as the main watercourse throughout the
city. Now, they say Rome was built in the day, but today, after the Vatican, I feel like
Yashko is going to attempt to show us Rome in the day. For example, he's already at the
other end of this bridge. In keeping up with the general, I notice Rome is constantly discovering
old things buried somewhere. This piazza, my good looking self, is Piazza Navona, the
city square built on the site of the stadium of Domitian, built in 1st century AD and follows
the form of the open space of the stadium. This is the fountain of Neptune, done in 1574
by Giacoma della Porta. In the center is the famous fountain of the Four Rivers, done in
1651 by your friend Giovanni Bernini. The church in the piazza is St. Agnes and at the southern
end is the Fontana del Moro, also sculptured by Giacoma della Porta, in 1575. Just as I
said, lots of fountains keep your water bottles. General Yashko gave us a break, so what can
be better than real pizza accompanied by live jazz? The Trevi Fountain of Fontana del Trevi,
standing 25.9 meters high and 19.8 meters wide is the largest baroque fountain in the
city and one of the most famous fountains in the whole world. Roman technicians located
the source of pure water from 13 kilometers from the city. This is the scene in the present
fountain facade, but getting here was no easy feat. See, after pizza, we met up with the
group and visited San Luigi de Franceschi to see the famous life of St. Matthew paintings
by Caravaggio. Gogo went to light a candle and pray and when we left the church, Yashko
was gone. Panic set in and all roads leading to Rome no longer led to Yashko. Running around
aimlessly we tried calling but Yashko wasn't picking up his phone. We did however stumble
across the pantheon and all the chaos. Cool, some quick pictures and it's back to the
amazing race. In the Vatican, Yashko gave us these walkie talkie headsets that allowed
him to talk without screening and allowed us to listen. His voice kept crackling in and
out like an old ghostly radio which meant he must be nearby. We heard him say Fontana
de Trevi so out comes the iPhone's map. Gogo starts asking people, people who unfortunately
only spoke Italian. Finally, someone gives us directions. Using the iPhone's map, we
found our street, ourselves, and Yashko. That should be Steve Jobs' next iPhone commercial.
Like Ross Sheep, heard by Yashko the Shepherd, we reached the Piazza da Spagna. In the Piazza
at the base is an early-growth fountain called the Fountain of the Old Boat, built in 1627
to 1629 and often credited to Pietro Bernini, father of a more famous son, Giovanni Bernini.
This guy's name keeps popping up all over Rome. He has been recently said to have collaborated
on the decoration. Pope Urban VIII had the fountain installed after he was impressed
by a boat brought there by the flood of the Tiber River. The Spanish steps are set of
steps climbing the steep slope between Piazza da Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinitia
da Monti with its church of the same name at the top. They are the longest and the widest
staircase in Europe. We already spent most of the day walking and running around the
streets of Rome, what's climbing a couple more steps, 138 steps to be exact, and was
built to link the Bourbon Spanish Embassy to the Holy See.
The church Trinitia da Monti is the late Renaissance church best known for its commanding position
above the Spanish steps. The church and its surrounding area, including the Villa Merdici,
are the property of the French state. The present Italian Renaissance church was eventually
built in its place and finally consecrated in 1585 by the great urbanizer Pope Sixtus
V, who via Sestina connected the Piazza della Trinitia da Monti outside the church to the
Piazza Barberini across the city. The view from here is pretty nice.
From here we hop on the subway at Piazza da Spagna, travel a few stops to Republica
Station in exit of the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs. The Basilica
is dedicated to the Christian martyrs known and unknown. It was also a personal monument
to Pope Piazza IV. St. Mary of the Angels was built inside the frigidarium of the Bath
of the Euclidian. Frigidarium is a large, cool pool to drop into after enjoying the
hot room and bath. The Bath of the Euclidian were the grandest of the public baths built
by successive emperors and dedicated in 306. Well, if that image on the floor isn't self-explanatory
then I don't know what it is. Michelangelo worked from 1563 to 1564 to adopt a section
of the remaining structure of the bath to enclose a church. The artwork here is rather
interesting to say the least. We walk through the side streets turning and twisting and
we end up at the Basilica of the Santa Maria Maggiore. This is the largest church in Rome
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to the tradition, Pope Leverius wanted a shrine
built at the site where an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared. Wow, what
a day. We fill up our empty water bottles, then dinner inside Termini, the main train
station in Rome. We hopped on the tour bus and headed back to the hotel. My legs and
my feet are swollen. Plus, we got another 6.30 am wake-up call. So, I'm done, man. Have
a good night. We'll see you in the morning.
