Our last day in Rome. We had seen most of the big sites so we mainly spent our time exploring more of the city. We went back to the fountain Plaza again after dropping the apartment keys off so Nick and I could enjoy an Italian coffee.
While we sat and chilled Christy & Will had a look around the church which didn't turn out to be a great idea because Will had an allergic reaction to the lavender incense they were burning. He was ok, just had to get out of there really quick.
We walked down to the Vittorio Emanuele II monument which is a huge building and one that can be seen from almost anywhere in Rome. Funnily enough apparently the Italians don't like it, not sure why they've just got something against it and they and call it the 'wedding cake' or something. I think they have a few other nicknames for it.
It's also quite new which may be another reason it doesn't have a fond following, and when I say new I mean the late 1800s which is very new for Rome. It now contains the tomb of the unknown soldier and as such the entire building is a sacred monument so you can't sit anywhere on it and they're very strict about that. There is one guy just telling people off if they sit down and then there are a couple of guards stationed just to look after the tomb. Looked like a pretty boring job.
We had lunch at a nice Italian restaurant and found Rome's expensive shopping street (think Dior, Versace and every other designer name you can think of). We also saw the 'Spanish Steps' which lead up to another church and has a boat shaped fountain at the base, quiet pretty and a great spot to chill out.
We then walked up to the Piazza del Popolo and admired the big obelisk and fountains there. The obelisk is Egyptian and from sometime before BC even though it didn't actually look that old. The sun had come out so the Piazza was actually a really nice spot to chill out in.
Off to the side of the Piazza was some stairs to go up a hill to a platform which would look back over the Piazza and more of the city too. So we decided to head up there for the views. There were heaps of dodgy people around trying to scam tourists but the views up the top were nice and we could see as far as the Vatican.
We kept on walking and eventually reached the Tiber River so walked down to that (the river is a lot lower than the streets) and had a walk along the river. It's not the prettiest river but we got some nice views of the bridges.
We eventually reached the most famous bridge, the one that approaches Castel Sant'Angelo and we came back up from the river bed to walk along it. The bridge was beautiful with angel statues along it, made even better with the dusk setting. Castel Sant'Angelo (which is joined to the Vatican along a passage) has been a few things over the years including a fortress and castle. It was late so we didn't go in but was nice to see from the outside.
While we were on the bridge we spotted this crazy mass in the sky and it turned out to be hundreds maybe even thousands of sparrows flying around in various directions causing the most amazing patterns. It was beautiful to watch, I couldn't believe there were so many birds in one place. I'm not sure what would cause them to act like that. It's not something I've seen before.
That was our last stop as it got late and we had to make our way back to the airport and sadly finish up our trip in Rome, one of the most amazing cities I've been to. I wonder if I'll ever have the opportunity to come back.
Our last day in Rome. We had seen most of the big sites so we mainly spent our time exploring more of the city. We went back to the fountain Plaza again after dropping the apartment keys off so Nick and I could enjoy an Italian coffee.
While we sat and chilled Christy & Will had a look around the church which didn't turn out to be a great idea because Will had an allergic reaction to the lavender incense they were burning. He was ok, just had to get out of there really quick.
We walked down to the Vittorio Emanuele II monument which is a huge building and one that can be seen from almost anywhere in Rome. Funnily enough apparently the Italians don't like it, not sure why they've just got something against it and they and call it the 'wedding cake' or something. I think they have a few other nicknames for it.
It's also quite new which may be another reason it doesn't have a fond following, and when I say new I mean the late 1800s which is very new for Rome. It now contains the tomb of the unknown soldier and as such the entire building is a sacred monument so you can't sit anywhere on it and they're very strict about that. There is one guy just telling people off if they sit down and then there are a couple of guards stationed just to look after the tomb. Looked like a pretty boring job.
We had lunch at a nice Italian restaurant and found Rome's expensive shopping street (think Dior, Versace and every other designer name you can think of). We also saw the 'Spanish Steps' which lead up to another church and has a boat shaped fountain at the base, quiet pretty and a great spot to chill out.
We then walked up to the Piazza del Popolo and admired the big obelisk and fountains there. The obelisk is Egyptian and from sometime before BC even though it didn't actually look that old. The sun had come out so the Piazza was actually a really nice spot to chill out in.
Off to the side of the Piazza was some stairs to go up a hill to a platform which would look back over the Piazza and more of the city too. So we decided to head up there for the views. There were heaps of dodgy people around trying to scam tourists but the views up the top were nice and we could see as far as the Vatican.
We kept on walking and eventually reached the Tiber River so walked down to that (the river is a lot lower than the streets) and had a walk along the river. It's not the prettiest river but we got some nice views of the bridges.
We eventually reached the most famous bridge, the one that approaches Castel Sant'Angelo and we came back up from the river bed to walk along it. The bridge was beautiful with angel statues along it, made even better with the dusk setting. Castel Sant'Angelo (which is joined to the Vatican along a passage) has been a few things over the years including a fortress and castle. It was late so we didn't go in but was nice to see from the outside.
While we were on the bridge we spotted this crazy mass in the sky and it turned out to be hundreds maybe even thousands of sparrows flying around in various directions causing the most amazing patterns. It was beautiful to watch, I couldn't believe there were so many birds in one place. I'm not sure what would cause them to act like that. It's not something I've seen before.
That was our last stop as it got late and we had to make our way back to the airport and sadly finish up our trip in Rome, one of the most amazing cities I've been to. I wonder if I'll ever have the opportunity to come back.
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