Alone in Rome!

 It is my first day in Rome!  Thursday Oct 6th 

Yeah,I successfully navigated my way by train and bus to Hotel Smeraldo, which is in part of old Rome. Since it was only 10am, my room wasn’t ready so I headed out for an easy morning of exploring the neighborhood.  First stop was campo di fiori- a fun busy 50+ stall market with local kind of things like fruit, veggies, flowers etc, but also tourist trap booths.  

Apparently, as the locals have been moved out by high prices, more tourists and hotels have moved in.  The market then changes to the college bar scene at night.  (I won’t be checking that out to see if it is true) 

Next I wondered through some cool plazas (piazzas) on my way to checking out some architecture in churches.  Piazzas are the town squares and they are all over the place. 

These were 2 of the piazzas.  The first one I am still practicing my selfie smile.  The one below has the French embassy in the background and the fountain is made from an old, very old, 2000 year old tub. It came from the Baths of Caracalla. I hope to make it to the Bath ruins this trip.

These ruins pictures above are just in the middle of town near my hotel.  I didn’t see any, but it is supposed to have hundreds of cats in it at night. Largo di Torre Argentina.  

Next came some churches and a visit to the outside of the Pantheon.  The artwork in the churches is always amazing  

chiesa s. luigi dei francesi 

s. ignazio di loyola 

After some wandering, 

What an ingenious way to hang your plants 

More wandering ( the back of the pantheon)

Wander, wander, wander……..

Wandering and taking advantage of the street to practice selfies - again.  

Wandering and wondering why this statue looks so beat up.  

At the end of my wandering, I decided that I would get more macabre and visited a Capuchin Monk church and crypt.  The museum and church were average, but the crypt……Crazy place that one was!  You will have to check out the pictures below.  Warning, warning, warning, the pictures are of an actual crypt so if you don’t want to see them, they are the last thing that I am posting on the blog for today, so you can stop reading here and miss them.  I wasn’t allowed to take any, so these are pictures of the postcards. And YES, they really do look like the pictures.  

Since I really didn’t sleep on the plane and I still am trying to get use to the 6 hour time difference, I headed back to the hotel early for  some rest and relaxation!

Buona Notte