Hanging out with Angels

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I started the day with taking the metro to the Spagna station to go see those famous Spanish Steps. I have said it before but there are some things that just leave me wondering why they are so popular. This is literally a set of stairs that lead to a church and at the bottom there is a fountain that is shaped like a small boat. I guess the attraction is the same as any piazza ... it is just a great meeting place to generally hang out and do some great people watching. It was relatively early so the crowds had not gathered yet but there were still some tourists looking at maps and guidebooks, locals reading books and newspapers and people climbing up the stairs to make their way to wherever they were going. Unfortunately though, you do have to dodge the insistent vendors but I guess that it is part and parcel of any tourist attraction.

I then did the short walk to the Trevi Fountain. I was there just yesterday (or was it the day before???) but it was later on in the day and the crowds were absolutely incredible. I figured that I would just pop by to get another quick look at it. There was already a good crowd gathered but nothing like the other day. There was a group of teenagers and they were having fun taking each other's pictures as they threw their coins over their shoulder and into the fountain. I threw another one in for good measure!

My next stop would be the Piazza Navona. To get there, you essentially have to pass the Pantheon so I thought I would pop by it again. In truth, I wanted to see if I could get better photos of it. When the sun is not on the right side, the sky looks white and the photos a little flat. Nope ... didn't get anything better. Oh well! If my coin in the Trevi Fountain works, I will get another chance one day ... LOL

Piazza Navona was next. It is just a big square that is ... at the risk of sounding like a broken record ... filled with cute boutiques and restaurants. The square is also filled with vendors selling paintings. There is also the odd one doing caricatures. There are also a few street performers which are always quite entertaining. I found it ironic that one was dressed as a kind of sarcophogus or King Tut and he was standing right in front of the fountain that has a huge obelisk.

There was also the guy dressed as the Statue of Liberty. Three years ago, I came to the Piazza Navona and I have a picture of a guy dressed as the Statue of Liberty standing exactly in the same spot as the one I saw today. A couple of years after I took my photo, I saw a photo of the same guy which this girl had posted. I checked and it was the same guy. That's why I am pretty sure that the guy whose picture I took today is the same guy whose picture I took three years ago! It seems to pay off to dress up like the Statue of Liberty. I wonder if they need a license to plant themselves there and "perform" like that???? Although I "heart" New York ... I do have to say that my favorite so far was the cupid in Florence. He was just adorable.

I then made my way (after a quick stop at the Campo de Fiori for a quick snack ... a yummy fruit salad from one of the fruit vendors) to the Castel Sant'Angelo. I had walked by it yesterday as I made my way to the Vatican but it was closed. So today was the day to actually visit it. Part of the visit is of course being able to just visit the building itself. There are rooms that are just out of this world. There was also an art exhibit. There was a twist to this exhibit though. Part of it included art works that had been restored by people who are actually studying in the "art" of restoration. I have mentioned before that I have seen about one million Madonna and Child on this trip. This was the first time that I saw a 3-D Madonna and Child. It made me laugh because it reminded of that awful painting that Phoebe on Friends had where the woman looked like she was falling out of the frame. If you are a Friends fan ... you know what I am talking about. I am so going to burn in hell for laughing at a Madonna and Child!! I wish that I would have been able to take a photo!

The other part of the exhibit included pieces that had actually been previously stolen and subsequently recovered by the ... ummmm ... the name escapes me ... we'll call them the art cops. They had an actual title ... I just didn't write it down.

After the Castel, I kind of meandered a bit in some of the side streets and decided to head back to Piazza Navona to grab a late lunch. Like I said, it is filled with restaurants and some looked mighty enticing. I had this yummy pasta dish (cacio e pepe) ... goat cheese and pepper. Yum!! I also had company. First a mother and daughter from Philadelphia who were here to attend a wedding. They left and then came a couple from Virginia.

So tomorrow is my last day in Italy. The countdown on my iPhone tells me that there are 41 days until I return home. So more than halfway through (I think that in total the trip is 86 days). Paris seems like light years away but at the same time I can't say that it is a blur or that it feels like it has just gone by quickly. I have yet to wake up and not know where I am!! And judging by my poor feet, it would allude to the fact that I've done a "few" things and "a bit" of walking!

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Photos

13 Pantheon
Still on the wrong side of the sun!

19 Street Performer
Egyptian sarcophagus ... and he is standing in front of a fountain that has a huge obelisk