Italy - Rome - Around Town

 

Ok so it's not a street scene.  This is a restroom in a very nice museum.  Notice it doesn't have a seat.  This was common.  Most restrooms weren't this nice or even clean.  Most you had to pay a euro to use unless it was at a restaurant or an attraction you had paid to get into.  You flushed by pushing the buttons on the wall.  You couldn't always assume they would have toilet paper and empty soap dispensers were the norm.  So carry tissues and hand sanitizer.

Most piazzas (squares) have fountains.

This is the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers) in Piazza Navano. The piazza is laid out on the ruins of an arena built by Domitian in AD 86. 

The fountain was created by Bernini and depicts the personification of the Nile, Ganges, Danube and Plate Rivers.

 
 

 

Some interesting architecture photos.

We saw several of these police booths around town.

Several of the buildings on this street had plant balls hanging outside.

I can't believe how tightly crammed in people could get their scooters.

This car was parked facing the wrong direction.

Smart cars were short enough to park like this on most streets.

I headed us off in the wrong direction and ended up by the Tiber River.

I never did find the name of this church.

This is the Castel Sant'Angelo.  It was built as a mausoleum for the emperor Hadrian and converted into papal fortress in the 6th century.  A secret 13th century passageway from the Vatican palaces to the Castel helped many popes find sanctuary in times of danger.

The Ponte Sant'Angelo was built by Hadrian in AD 134.  The sculptures lining the sides were created by Bernini and his pupils in the 17th century.

As we were watching construction workers were  using a crane to lower some panes of glass.  They were twirling in the breeze.

This photo shows the angel sculptures and the panes of glass being lowered.

St. Peter's dome in Vatican City hovers in the background of this photo of the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II.

Sculptures on the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II.

Capsized boats under the bridge.

The Ponte Principe Amedeo

About the time we got to this point, I felt something hit my arm and a British gal in front of me said, "That bird just shat on me".  Now you have to say that in a British accent for it to be funny but that's exactly what had happened to her and I.  I'm surprised it hadn't happened before with all the birds walking and flying around.

Now how could anyone possibly get their car out of here?

What follows are five photos of the Trevi Fountain.  It was created in 1732 by Nicola Salvi and shows Neptune's chariot being led by Tritons with sea horses.  The water is supplied by a 1st century BC underground aqueduct.

We had to fight our way through this crowd of umbrellas to the fountain.