Last day in Italy, and it’s a public transportation (metro & bus) strike. On this day we took a Taxi to the Trastevere neighborhood after first visiting Caffe Canova.
Caffe Canova
What is now Caffe Canova was once an active sculpture studio from 1818 until 1967. The studio was neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova and his pupil Adamo Tadolini. Canova is famous for many marble sculptures. We saw his Paolina Borghese as Venus Victrix at the Borghese gallery and it was among my favorites -- just look at the detail of the cushion and draping of fabric all made out of marble.
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| Paolina Borhese as Venus Victrix (taken at the Borghese gallery) |
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| Inside Caffe Canova |
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| Inside Caffe Canova |
Trastevere
We took a taxi to the Trastevere neighborhood and did Rick Steve's audio tour. We started on the first bridge and then went into the first church after the bridge, this seemed to match the audio tour but inside the church I had difficulty matching what Rick was saying with what I was seeing -- we started at the wrong bridge and was in the wrong church LOL. Once we restarted, it all started to make much more sense.
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| The wrong bridge, but still a pretty bridge |
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| The correct church, Church of Saint Cecilia |
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| Saint Cecilia depicted in Sculpture |
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| Biscottificio Innocenti, a bakery that Rick Steve's autdio tour directed us to. It was delicious |
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| Santa Maria in Trastevere |
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| Saint Anthony -- all the notes gave me the feels |
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| Fontana dell'Acqua Paola |
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| Along the side of the fountain |
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| These trees, when walking away from the fountain |
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| This view from near the fountain |
One last walk
On our last afternoon & evening in Rome, we walked the back streets of the neighborhood where we stayed. We got a final gelato, looked at the Spanish Steps at night, then wandered over to Trevi fountain. The crowds were not terrible on this night, perhaps the metro/bus strike helped reduce the # of people here.
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| On the street behind our aparmentment |
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| On the street behind our apartment |
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| On the street behind our apartment |
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| On the street behind our apartment |
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| Venchi gelato in Rome |
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| Triple scoop -- why not? |
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| A view from Spanish Steps to the Spanish Embassy (the building lit up in red & yellow) |
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| The Spanish Steps |
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| Trevi Fountain |
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| Front View of Trevi Fountain |
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| I weaved through the crowds and got up close to the fountain (in this picture, I had already thrown my coin) |
Homeward
And we began our trek home. Fancy ride to the Rome FCO airport. Once in London Heathrow, we had to take a bus from the tarmac then another bus from T5 to T3. But the Virgin Atlantic lounge was amazing -- it even had a gym in it. The flight home was smooth, and we arrived to LAX feeling rested enough to drive home. Went to sleep after midnight and slept through -- hopefully jetlag will be minimal. |
| There was a taxi strike on the day we left, so our host got us a private driver. This was a BMW and the driver was dressed in a suit! |
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| This is the start of the English channel |
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| This is on our descent into London |
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| Rosie acting like she doesn't know us |
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| The fridge was EMPTY! |
