Today was probably the best day so far. Not only did I finally get access to WiFi and therefore actually have access to the blog and my laptop, but we took a long walk with Domenico and other students around a large section of Roma. While the Prati district is nice (and one of the most expensive areas to live in) it is not the Roma I was expecting. Much of it is newer and less authentic. We began by walking to Villa Borghese which Domenico said is similar to Central Park. It also has one of the best views in the city.
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| Statues in Villa Borghese |
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| city view |
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| city view |
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| The piazza that is only a 10 minute walk from the dorms |
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| Obelisk in the piazza |
Next we walked along the hillside and came upon the Spanish steps. While I have heard of them I had no idea why they were famous nor how they were Spanish. Apparently it's a bunch of steps nearby the Spanish consulate.
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| Upper level of the Spanish Steps |
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| Another piazza on the way to Vittornio |
At that point we reached our intended destination. The Il Vittoriano which commemorates the first Italian king who united the city states of Italy. It also has probably the best view of not only the city, but of the ancient district as well.
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| Il Vittoriano |
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| Tomb of the unknown soldier. Guarded 24/7 |
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| The forums and part of Ancient Rome |
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| Il Vittoriano Chariots |
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| A view of the Collesseum from Il Vittoriano |
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| More of the forums |
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| Other ruins |
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| The Forums |
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| city view |
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| city view |
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| city view |
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| Temple columns |
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| more of forums |
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| city view |
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| 2nd chariot |
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| The balcony in which Mussolini gave speeches before WWII |
On the way to Il Vittoriano we also walked through the area that is known as the fifth avenue of Roma and it was just as extravagant as to be expected. All of the big name designers had stores there including Armani, Gucci, Luis Vuitton etc. A lot of people refer to it as a slice of Milan in Roma.
With the weather so much nicer than the last few days (it is still in the low 40's) Jazz and I decided to travel to a Sicilian trattoria where they served rice balls. While I did not take any pictures (mainly because people were already looking at us) the rice balls were great but not filling.
On the walk back we stopped at a quick pizzeria and grabbed more filling rice balls.
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| Left "was" filled with sauce, rice, and mozzarella. Right was basically fried mashed potatoes with cheese inside. |
The rice balls were incredible and were only 1 euro each. Well worth it.
Tonight we are going to eat bread and find some good gouda cheese and see if we can save a little bit of money. If there are pictures worth taking we will upload them tonight.
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