We were able to take the morning of our last day in Rome somewhat slower, which was very nice. After a long breakfast, we planned our day around seeing some of the famous sites of Rome that we hadn't gotten to yet (though certainly not all, that would take weeks or even months). First, we walked along the Forum to the Mamertine Prison, where St. Peter was allegedly imprisoned in Rome, but finding it closed we just snapped a few pictures and headed off in the direction of the Tarpeian Rock. The Tarpeian Rock is a very ancient Roman feature where bad kings and other important and unwanted figures were allegedly thrown into the Tiber from (though the site is not quite so close to the Tiber now). We wandered around the Capitoline Hill for a while in search of the Rock, but could not find it (we think it was behind a gated-off area we walked by). So we made our way down and around the Capitoline Hill and to a museum which presented information about the various Roman forums, where we looked around a bit. From there we journeyed back to poke around the area surrounding Nero's Domus Aurea in the faint hope that it might be open (it wasn't), but we ended up walking around a pretty park surrounding it. The park also housed some ruins of Trajan's baths (ruins are everywhere in Rome!). We then walked back down past the Colosseum in search of lunch, which we ate near the Forum. Then we walked back up the Via Cavour (road) towards our hotel, sticking our heads into a few souvenir shops to price some gifts along the way. After a brief recharge at the hotel, we trekked over to the Spanish Steps and Piazza de Spagna, where I almost reached the breaking point on people rudely (and I say rudely because it accurately describes how it was done) trying to sell stuff...
...side note: People pester, bug, and harass you constantly in some of the more famous sites, trying to sell you anything from umbrellas to photos, to roses, to pictures of themselves dressed as gladiators. They are constantly approaching you, making it very difficult to actually appreciate the beauty of the moment. At Trevi Fountain the other night, we turned down a man who was trying to take our picture for money at least 5 or so times in succession before becoming so fed up with him we just left the fountain. The practice of some of these people is particularly rude and borders on insulting, which is why I almost reached my breaking point at the Spanish Steps when a man literally shoved a rose into Allison's hand (after she had turned his request to buy one down several times) and then demanded money from me for it. Allison just politely put the rose on a balcony and we walked away quickly, our experience at the Spanish Steps somewhat jaded by this...
After that escapade we decided to head off to the more peaceful confines of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, stopping at the Basilica di Santa Pudenziana along the way. Both of these churches were only a block or so from our hotel, but we hadn't really explored them yet so we decided to poke around them. St. Maria Maggiore was a very ornate and beautiful church and housed frescoes from as early as the fifth century. However, it also housed enough incense to send the semi-congested Allison outside with uncontrollable coughing. Alas. So I took a few pictures of the church as she waited outside. From there we did our souvenir shopping and had another hotel recharge before heading back to Gallo Matto for our last Roman dining experience. A fitting end to a wonderful trip!
Mamertine prison and then Domus Aurea (from the outside), followed by the Spanish Steps and the Basilica di Santa Pudenziana and the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore...and a picture of the Alps from our plane the next day
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