Skip to main content

Arrived!

Hi there!

Mrs. Kinahan and I arrived in Rome this afternoon, checked into our hotel, and immediately went out to see the city! It is hard to explain how magical this place is. Everywhere you turn there is something breathtaking to see. Just outside of our hotel we can see the ruins of ancient times. Mixed in with all of the modern day comings and goings are major archaeological treasures each step of the way. We had a ball wandering this way and that until we were starved and started looking for somewhere to stop for dinner!

We walked and walked and walked until we came to the Trevi Fountain. I'm posting a few pictures below. This fountain was constructed as a celebration of the Roman's ability to bring water to the city center by way of their aqueducts. The fountain represents the area where locals gathered daily to fetch their water. Central to the fountain is an enormous statue of Poseidon (Neptune) who shows a plentitude of water spouting from as many as twenty-four areas of the fountain. The backdrop is a large neoclassical palace. It is truly impressive.

People say that if you drop a coin in the fountain, you'll be guaranteed a trip back to Rome someday, so I tossed in a few!!!!

Bread, cheese, and fish were dinner at an outdoor cafe - and then gelato for dessert, of course!





Some Italian words we learned today:

per favore: please
prego: your welcome
parla inglese: do you speak English?
buon giorno: hello/good day
excuse me: mi scusi



More tomorrow!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Duomo - Florence's Cathedral

Ciao! Today, we visited The Duomo , a major cathedral in the center of Florence. From the ground, it is quite a sight to see, but when we climbed the cupola to the very top, we were overwhelmed by the breathtaking view of all of Florence. Here are two views of The Duomo from the ground - can you guess why it is called The Duomo ? Here is an incredible picture (that I did not take myself) of Duomo from a distance at dusk. Domes are amazing architectural achievements. You might be reminded of The Pantheon in Rome from a recent blog post. Rome's Pantheon was indeed a inspiration to the Florentine people. But of course, they wanted their dome to be even larger! When looking at the pictures above, can you imagine how this dome was built? Can you envision the workers putting it together piece by piece? How did they do it? How long did it take? How did they get the materials from one place to another without modern technology? Here is a brief expla...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pompeii - Part Due

Hello friends! My last blog (Pompeii - Part Uno) covered a lot of information about the roads and set up/organization of Pompeii. Romans are famous for building long-lasting roads that connected the villages and cities of their empire as it grew larger and larger. Perhaps we take our roads for granted now, but if you think about it, the” paths” we travel over and over again to get to school, the market, to see family/friends, and so on have become the roads of our lives . Not really "paths" at all, but modernized and fortified with strong materials like stone, asphalt, and concrete. They allow us to feel connected to one another and to travel easily from place to place. They also enable us to share our stories, ideas, plans, and concerns throughout our communities. The stories, ideas, and values of the Romans were shared and passed on over time by way of the people who traveled the ancient roads that still exist in Italian cities today. This is just one way they uni...
Post a Comment
Read more

The last Italian adventure…for now

After my visit to Pompeii, my husband and I spent a few days exploring the Amalfi coast. This breathtaking part of Italy is made up of many small villages built into the tall jagged cliffs of the seashore. Here is a map! Driving along from Pompeii, we were simultaneously amazed and terrified by the dramatic twists and turns in the road as we moved further southeast. All the way, steep drop-offs to the ocean had us glued to the car windows. We marveled at the engineering it must have taken to construct this highway and were filled with admiration for the people who have lived here for generations - building their homes, churches, and local businesses right into the landscape of the rocky coast. Throughout our visit to this part of Italy, we never got used to the magnificent views that could be had from each hamlet or village where we stopped along the way. While reading up on one particularly distant pair of rocky islands and coves that could be seen a bi...
Post a Comment
Read more