Rome - The Eternal City

After a quick drive North out of Sorrento, we rolled into the Eternal City.  

*sigh*

When Jim & I booked our vacation, we planned the first half to be super relaxing (Jim's idea of a vacation) then the last part to be full of sight-seeing and history (my idea of a vacation).  

Win/win! :)

This is waiting for us in our hotel room when we arrived.  I've said it before but it's worth repeating......no one books travel like my husband does!!

My road-weary traveler......

Rome is a HUGE city with almost 3 million people.  We booked a hotel that backed up to Villa Borghese.....a gorgeous park in the northern part of the city.  

This area was initially part of the emperor's palace and gardens.  It is almost completely surrounded by this extensive stone wall.  Seriously......it was breath-taking!  These pictures don't do it justice.   

We quickly unpacked then headed out to see the sights.  We stepped out of the hotel, looked up and down the street then back at each other with complete awe.  

WE WERE IN ROME, PEOPLE!!!

Stunning architecture and designs everywhere you looked.  I couldn't take pictures fast enough!  

I planned to blog all these wonderful historical facts about the city and it's unbelievable art.  And I tried to soak it all in.....I really did.  Then I would get side-tracked by a super intricate door knocker (below).  

I finally just gave up on all the background facts and walked around like a gawker.  :)

We had prearranged to take a tour on our first night in Rome to get the lay of the land.  The tour hit the highlights of the city at dusk.  It sounded way too incredible to pass up.  

Just an American couple waiting for their tour.  

The tour met in Piazza Spagna (The Spanish Square) at the base of the Spanish Steps.  

The Spanish Steps were under construction but goodness gracious.....check them out!!  135 steps leading to one of the most gorgeous churches I've ever seen.  For you movie buffs, this is where Roman Holiday was filmed.  

Our tour guide was fantastic!  He was an American expat who moved to Italy five years ago to study and could never convince himself to leave.  

The Fontana della Barcaccia ("Fountain of the ugly boat") was located at the base of the Spanish Steps.  The water coming out of this fountain is completely sanitary and drinkable.  Once it gathers around the fountain, not so much.  We saw several people refilling water bottles from those spouts.  

On the other end of the square was the Spanish embassy.  This guard was not messing around!  He had a fully loaded semi-automatic and would not allow his photo to be taken.  We had to wait until he looked away.  :)

Directly in front of the Spanish embassy was the Colonna della Immacolata (Column of the Immaculate Conception).  Here's a fact that I did not know:  The "immaculate conception" does not refer to the birth of Jesus to the virgin Mary.  It is the conception of MARY in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne.  God kept her soul "immaculate" in preparation for the birth of Jesus.  Our tour was full of really cool tidbits like that.  

That's the Virgin Mary on top of the statue.....

---- and statues of prophets at the base.  

The tour guide was bending our ear with awesome facts/history until we came to a random intersection.  He stopped our tour and prepared us for what was located right around the corner.  

The Trevi Fountain literally took our breath away.  I know that sounds hokey but y'all.....it gave us chills!  It is HUGE (86 ft tall and 161 ft wide).

Check that out!!!

To make sure your wish comes true, you must toss your coin using your right hand over your left shoulder (crossing your heart).  

Fun fact:  Over 3000 euro coins are tossed into the fountain daily.  The city uses the money from the fountain to fund a supermarket for the low-income families of the city.  (Yep, I've got the geeky mind that loves those kinds of random facts!!)

At the end of the tour, we came across this tiny church tucked away.  We walked in right off the street and saw this.....

Those Catholics know how to build a church!!!  :)

OK, so I know that picture overload but I really did edit.....trust me, I edited a lot!  I'm laughing as I type this because - even after all my editing - I'm still looking at 10 posts just about Italy.  

Truly the trip of a lifetime! :)