{"id":3961,"date":"2008-05-01T18:18:00","date_gmt":"2008-05-01T23:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/?p=3961"},"modified":"2020-12-28T13:16:23","modified_gmt":"2020-12-28T18:16:23","slug":"mediterranean-cruise-rome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flyingplates.com\/?p=3961","title":{"rendered":"Mediterranean Cruise – Rome"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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This was not my first visit to Rome but it was probably the most enjoyable because I was not rushed. There was no schedule, no bus to catch, no group to follow. We walked a lot, stopped when we felt like it, took audio guides when we wanted extra information, ate when and where we felt like it. Having rented an apartment, we explored the local grocery stores and managed to fix a few nice dinners at home. It is such a different experience to live like the locals rather than like tourists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rome has got to be the city that has the most treasures by square inch of any other city I have ever visited. There are fountains and sculptures everywhere, Roman ruins, castles and palaces, there is art everywhere, in churches especially and there are plenty of those in Rome!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is an easy city to navigate and no matter where you walk you will come across something worth visiting or stopping for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We stayed in an apartment located midway between two popular attractions: the Trevi fountain and the Spanish Steps. It is a wonderful area with plenty of restaurants, bars and shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So obviously those were our first visits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piazza di Spagna also known as The Spanish Steps <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Piazza di Spagna is one of the most famous images in the world. At the end of the seventeenth century, it was called Trinit\u00e0 dei Monti, after the church that dominates the square from above, but it was later given the name we know today after the Spanish Ambassador who lived there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the foot of the stairs, stands the famous Barcaccia Fountain, with its characteristic form of a sinking ship; the fountain recalls a historic flood. The sinking boat was ably invented to overcome a technical problem due to low water pressure. The sun and bee ornamentation is a symbol of the Barberini family and a reference to Pope Urban VIII who commissioned the work. However, the main attraction of the square has to be the spectacular staircase of Trinit\u00e0 dei Monti. With its ramps and stairs that intersect and open out like a fan the staircase connects the square and the Trinit\u00e0 Church above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n