Austin and Mandi's Great Adventure: Rome, Day V-VI

Our fifth day began with a visit to the Campidoglio, the Capitol Hill. This was not the site of the ancient Roman Senate, but it's still pretty darn old. The plaza was renovated by Michelangelo.

We stopped by two more churches afterwards, both affiliated with the Catholic missionary society, the Jesuits. The first, the Church of the Gesu, had an absolutely spectacular ceiling painting, with illusionary effects that made it seem like the contents of the painting were spilling out into the church. We stared for a long time and still couldn't make out what was really plastered on and what was just painted. A great visit.

The Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, named after the founder of the Jesuits, was not quite as spectacular, but still boasted a nice ceiling and some equally impressive sculptures.

Then it was off to the Pantheon. As you may be able to tell from the name ("pan" and "theos"), the Pantheon was originally constructed as a temple to all of the Roman gods. It has a huge unsupported dome and is lit only by the natural light coming from the roof in the dome and the doorway. It was converted into a church and I think the natural lighting would make it a very peaceful place for worship if it wasn't packed with tourists.

We had a break to snag some gelato from a famous place nearby and then made our way to the Piazza Navona, which was built on the site of a Roman stadium. The piazza is shaped like a race track, and has a big fountain at either end. It's filled with painters and street vendors.

We had lunch at a place called La Focaccia, where this happened:

We walked across the Angel Bridge to the entrance of the Castel Sant'Angelo, once the fortress of the popes. Admission was steep, so we contented ourselves with a view from the outside.

Then, we went to one of the most famous marketplaces in Rome: the Campo de'Fiori. Unfortunately, the market closes really early, so we missed out on almost everything. There were still some nice flower vendors around, though.

The next day we focused on picking off some of the more outlying sights around the city. We walked down the Via Veneto, which was a favorite haunt of movie stars and directors in the golden age of Italian film. It was not as impressive as we hoped it would be. But at the end of it sits the Villa Borghese, the largest park in the city. It has some nice areas, but a lot of it was under construction and we moved on.

The Roman walls outside the Villa Borghese.

As the sun set we took a long walk across the city to climb the Janiculum hill, which offers a spectacular panorama of Rome. We caught some miscellaneous sights along the way, and after a confusing but very scenic journey reached the top of the hill as the setting sun bathed the Eternal City in a warm red-gold light. The view reminded me of Heaven a little bit--a gleaming city full of beautifully-adorned buildings nestled in a green valley, surrounded by fertile mountains dotted with small villages. A breathtaking sight.