its fairly obvious Rome wasn't built in a day - part 1

I'm in Rome with Dr Fred... it a continuation of my crammed in culture fix!!! In between London and Rome I had a birthday and I was allowed to share my day with my eldest Grandchild who stole my birthday 9 years ago.  We had a greatest showman party and it ws great fun - really lovely to spend the day with my lovely family especially as we have not had the best year.

So post birthday...up at 5.00am and on a plane across the continent and then a collection of confusing trains and more trains and we finally wound up in a very nice AirB&B in a place a little out of town but on the main rail link.

I love a good lion statue

We sorted our digs out and then went back down into town to check out the large park we had seen on the map.  We didn't want to be too adventurous or go too far as we were quite frankly cream crackered - too much birthday glee and not enough sleep but a wander through the park and an early tea and beer seemed a good idea and then an early night to start the real adventure in the morning.

The park was PACKED - the whole of Rome population doing Sunday outings everywhich way... so we headed to the Piazza Del Popolo.... to sit and be entertained by the goings on in the street.

I have to say the best bit was the Michael Jackson look alike doing his thing to loud music and doing it very well I might say, but very much over shadowed by a chap behind him who was also dancing. Giving it his all, jumping about like a crazy person obviously having a fantastic time - break dancing, air guitaring and generally being very very entertaining - I suspect he ws fueled by some kind of substance but he was harmless and very into his dancing... Not sure Michael J appreciated him though.. If I had been nearer I would have filmed it because it was very funny...

almost symmetry on the Piazza Del Popolo

me star jumping as you do in the Piazza Navona

A most beautiful day dawned and we got the train down town and started walking.. of course I have had lots of practice in the last week so pavement pounding presented no problem for me - it was a splendid interesting statue filled day. 

Rome is just such a beautiful city every corner you turn there is grandeur and statues, obelisks, fountains, domes, interesting portico's, amazing cornices, turrets another complete overload of glorious culture and beauty!!!

We walked though the Piazza Navone, it was just getting going for the day.. street artists were setting up and the musicians were drifting in, it was a really nice vibe.  We carried on meandering and wandering up and down back streets finding almost hidden gems, lost roman ruins, interesting shop windows, and some completely over the top church interiors - not just the big obvious ones but the smaller less pretentious - from the outside at least.

church ceiling - pretend dome

Its sometimes the less obvious things that are interesting - having said that there is very little thats not obvious in a city like Rome but in among the glory and marble carvings odd things pop up - window full of doll parts....

doll parts..

Then we went to the Pantheon, busy but still holding an air of calmness as the light streams though the roof illuminating the incredible marble carved walls -

Pantheon

Rome is  busy and seems to never stop - there is constant people and traffic and the roads just don't seem to be built for modern traffic, lots of tight corners and constant horns blowing, it was a relief to get off the street and into the stunningly beautiful Altare Della Patria,also known as the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II.  Its a monument built in honor of Victor Emmanuel the first king of Italy - They must off really liked him as it is very very grand..

City leg was setting in by now even for those of us seasoned travelers, so a trip to the top of the steps and a chance to sit and watch the skyline and the city below in relative peace and quiet before we got back into the bustle to find much needed sustenance, and once revived, we carried on exploring.

Rome is a great city to just wander - we found parliment - very understated for such a grand city but the liitle - or rather narrow but towering back streets were often very pretty, full of greenery and character. 

At this point I just need to share that my gallery app on my phone has crashed -I can still take pictures but its quite a messy process to get to see them and get them in an edited way on the blog... this is classic technology failure when I particularly don't need it... I do use my camera as well as my phone so this is a mix - I cant put phone pics onto the lappie as the this lappie is on its last legs and only acts as a blogging machine so c'est la vie and some of the photos are not quite as I would wish but hopefully still convey a sense of a fabulous day out.