Roma Part II

We woke up on day 2 in Italy to the sweet smell of freshly baking bread from the bakery across the street. Ahhh, we were in the right place! We slept like babies after having been awake for 2 days straight and we were SO ready to take on all the sights Rome had to offer. The sun was shining and the weather was so warm we felt like spring was in full bloom. The oranges were just begging to be picked from the trees that lined the streets but we had more important things to do.
First stop... the Presidential Palace, I guess.
It was amazing how many impressive monuments you would stumble upon while making your way somewhere else. We hadn't put this on our list of must-sees but we enjoyed running into it just the same.
There wasn't nearly the pomp and circumstance around this palace as we saw a few years back at Buckingham, but the guards were cool (decidedly Roman) and the building impressive.
Next, I just LOVE the streets in Italy.
You could be anywhere and there are rich colors and fun archways and winding little alleys that are so eye-pleasing.
Finally, we got to where we had been heading all along, the Trevi Fountain!!
Oh, my, Goodness. This fountain is AMAZING. Funny, I kept looking for fabulous fountains the night before, and we found many that were cool but this one takes the cake! We tossed our coins in to ensure a return visit and just sat there and admired the art work that was bubbling before us. Of all the magnificent things I saw in Rome, this was probably my favorite. We came back here later in the day to enjoy a Gelato, but that is another story.
We wound our way through the ancient streets to the Pantheon and just as I was saying, 'we ought to be close' the buildings broke and we were nearly attacked by this ancient pagan temple.
It seemed to have come out of nowhere!
We had to take in the little accordion players and the fountains and the carriages before we could even enter in, but once we got in there, what a sight to see!
Marco couldn't believe the occulus was really just left open to the elements.
He was sure it had a hidden door like the indoor stadiums of today, but no. ;) This structure has stood since before the time of Christ so I would say it does just fine w/ that hole there, wouldn't you?
We visited Raphael's Tomb and admired the massive brass doors wondering HOW they managed to move them to close this place up at night...let alone how they made them and hung them thousands of years ago w/o machinery!

Piazza Navona was next on our list and we LOVED the feel there! Musicians, artists, tourists, fountains, sculptures and the warm sun!
We brought back a piece of the Piazza with us from this artist, Salvatore Cosso, and then we headed to the oldest Roman market to get ourselves some of the BEST Italian pizza in the world! The bakery was teeming w/ locals, so we knew we were in the right place! In the states I can't handle pizza more than once or twice a month, it is just too greasy and too heavy. Over there, though, we had some style of pizza most days and I loved it! I gained almost 5 pounds over there...but I am SURE that was because of the baby and NOT the pizza, right??!! Or maybe it was the Gelato, either way, it was well worth it!
All that we had time left for in Roma was a stroll back to our hotel to get our bags before catching the train to Firenze. Fortunately, we ran into the Vittorio Emmanuel monument, even w/ the scaffolding it was quite a sight to see.
Ohhhhh, how sad to go. There is so much to take in in a place like Rome. We loved our time there, though, and were excited for our next adventure in Tuscany.