Hello everybody and welcome to another blog post! Today I am only covering day 3 of our vacation, which is also our first full day in Rome. Continue reading down below to hear about what we did!
Wednesday, July 24th, 2019
We started this morning off by waking up “early” (for me) or at around 8:30 am and caught a metro (subway) to the famous Spanish Steps. We took a lift to the top of the steps and went into Trinita dei Monti, the church at the top of the steps. No photos were allowed inside but it was still really beautiful.
After the Spanish steps, we walked around and explored the stores around the area and eventually found an H&M. We went inside and I ended up buying a shirt. We then walked some more until we found some Angels and Demons (book and movie) destinations, taking a break and eating a Granita, shaved ice with fruit juice/syrup, along the way. We saw the outside of Castel Sant’ Angelo, the St. Peter’s Basilica (as we were in the area), and walked across the bridge, Ponte Sant’ Angelo, by it.
Across the bridge we kept walking until we came across Piazza Navona, which is also an Angels and Demons destination. The fountain in the center was where a cardinal was found in the film. Each of the dumping grounds were chosen as the four elements, Piazza Navona’s Fiumi Fountain was water or death by drowning. We also went into Sant’Agnese in Agone which is a church containing the shrine with St. Agnes’s skull. St. Agnes was a martyr who died very young just for refusing to marry because of her Catholicism. Her foster-sister Emeretiana died even younger because she was caught praying at her sister’s tomb and was therefore stoned to death because of her religion. While at Piazza Navona, we decided that this would be a good place to stop for lunch and ate a local restaurant in the center of the plaza. For lunch, I shared a pizza with my dad and brother and also had a fruit salad for myself.
Next, we walked to the Pantheon, which we had already been into but decided to go again. We did a real quick walk through inside and went back out and ordered another Granita, this time orange and lemon flavor mix and went back to Piazza Navona to sit on a bench in the shade and kill time before our next fun activity.
When it was time, we walked to a restaurant called Pasquino and attended a homemade pasta making class! We all learned how to make our own homemade pasta, which only uses two ingredients, an egg and about a cup of flour (100g) and a lot of hard arm work rolling the dough out. It may have been hard work, but it was fun! I love when I get to be a chef because the kids (me and my brother, Alex) aren’t allowed in the kitchen because we make messes. So anytime I get to bake or cook, I always have fun doing so! After we made the pasta, it was cooked and served to us. Everyone in my family chose the bolognese sauce. It was also served with Bruschetta, Meatballs and Saltimbocca, and Tiramisu. I also got to have alcohol for the first time because the drinking age in Italy and most of Europe is 18! I tried red wine (yuck), my parent’s white wine (eh) and Prosecco (Slightly gross but I liked it the best, lol). I thought the pasta was delicious as well as all the other foods.
After dinner we walked to the Trevi Fountain because another impulse decision was made to see it at night. We also stopped at a homegoods store called Flying Tiger Copenhagen, to look around and my dad found a light up LED rabbit that we ended up getting. It may be a unnecessary purchase but I have a very special “thing” with rabbits. (I’ve owned three, it is my favorite animal, and it’s my Chinese zodiac animal!) After visting the store, we walked back to our hotel and turned in for the night.
Thanks for reading everyone! Hope you are enjoying the posts so far. When I have posted this, it is actually our last day in Rome 😦 but we are heading to Positano and the Amalfi Coast next! I can not wait to be near the water and go to the beach while we are there for a few days! Stay tuned for another post tomorrow, from Positano!
Ashley's Travel Diaries 