Day 9: "Clean-up" tourism, everything we didn't see before

Our final day in Rome we decided to see all the things we didn’t get a chance to see the other days. I had this whole plan for what to do every day but sometimes things take longer than expected so we had to cut them out for the day and stick them into the last day. It all worked out though and we got to see everything we wanted to.

We started the day at some churches looking to see the famous Bernini sculpture, The ecstasy of St. Teresa. We went into two churches and again were able to enjoy the beautiful artwork inside. The Bernini sculpture was really cool.

The Ecstasy of St. Teresa

I looked back in our book to find out what church had the Caravaggio painting and discovered it was one at the Piazza del Popolo. We headed back in that direction and walked through the Villa Borghese. This was really a beautiful park. They had this cool water clock as well and the area was very relaxing. We spent some time here eating some snacks and enjoying the park then we headed down to the church in the Piazza. Still no luck on the Caravaggio but there was still one more place to visit where we could see his work.

Water clock

We walked down the Via Del Corso towards the Piazza Venezia which was our next stop on the list. This street was full of clothing stores which made it extremely tempting not to want to buy everything there. Italian fashion really appealed to me but because we had limited weight for our checked bag I opted not to buy anything. Somehow, I might need to shop online for these clothes. :) One of the store we have in Baltimore, so I’ll check it out when I get home. :)

Via Del Corso

We made it to the Venezia and got to see the monument for the first King of the unified Italy, Vittorio Emanuell II. Italy wasn’t unified until 1861. Not all that long ago. They also have a memorial for the unknown solider which was very beautiful. Like the memorial in the States there were two eternal flames and the memorial was heavily guarded. Inside the building we discovered a free museum outlining some of the history of the Italian army. It was interesting to note that not much was said about WWII except for what happened at then end when the Italian army was cut in size. I guess that’s because Italy was part of the bad guys during that war.

Piazza Venezia

Unknown solider memorial

We also got to see the Imperial Forum area. The area has actually been divided by a big highway but it was really cool to see some of the old buildings and we even saw some tiles still on one of the walls. The imperial forum consists of Caesar’s Forum, Augustus’ Forum, Trajan’s Forum, and some temples.

Imperial Forum

Tiles at the Imperial Forum

This whole time Joe and I were hoping to find a pasty shop for a yummy snack. No such luck. I don’t know if we were just not looking in the right areas or if they don’t really exist in Rome but all I wanted was a delicious cannoli and we had no luck finding one. We found a Burger King and just got some fries for a snack and a soda then debated what we should do for the rest of the afternoon.

We decided to check out the Capitoline Museums that I had read about in the Europe book. According the the book there were several more sculptures and other artwork and FINALLY a Caravaggio! So we went over to the museum and started the tour. We got a free audio guide which was pretty helpful in explaining some of the history. We learned about how the sculptures went from terra-cotta to marble and that the huge statues weren’t all made of marble but mostly wood so they wouldn’t weigh too much. We also got to see some furniture and other household pieces which was pretty cool.

Capitoline Museums

Caravaggio

After the audio guide was over we returned it and saw the rest of the museum. We went up to the picture gallery first and finally got to see the Caravaggio painting. It was really beautiful. From this one painting you can tell he was a very talented artist.

We then headed back downstairs to see more statues and the bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius. They also had parts of the Temple of Jupiter which was really neat to see. We got to walk across the basement area and came to an overlook of the Roman Forum. It was fun to see the whole area from a different perspective. We took a few pictures and headed to the second building where we saw more statues and busts of several of the Roman emperors and philosophers. One things for sure, the Romans loved their statues and I’m pretty sure we saw several hundred of them during the trip to the Vatican museum and this one! We finished up the tour exhausted and headed back towards the hotel for dinner.

Bronze Statue of Marcus Aurelius

Temple of Jupiter

View of the Roman Forum from the Museum

Joe and Amanda at the museum

Again we ate at the Rom Antica and enjoyed more delicious food. This time Joe got the penne with vodka sauce and I picked farfalle with asparagus and cream sauce. Delicious! We got some ice cream again at the ice cream shop and headed back to the hotel to sadly pack up and get ready for another early morning trip to the train station in order to get the bus to the airport. So long Roma!