The legendary Fried Mars Bar -- trust me, it tastes better than it looks.
Di and Xixi were a little skeptical about actually eating it.
Our hostel was in an old apartment building, shared with private tenants.
There was a tiny old elevator that was unlike anything I've ever seen, but reliable.
The cage for the lift.
Note the last item: "uova strapazzate/ to mistreat eggs"
Ridiculously steep escalator in the metro.
One of the two metro lines in Rome -- the other one is a lot nicer and less graffiti'd.
Walking up to St. Peter in Chains.
St. Peter in Chains
Inside the church.
Bottom center: Michelangelo's "Moses"
"Moses" -- the statue was originally created for the tomb of Pope Julius II. Note the horns on his head.
This was the beginning of my "oh my god I studied that in Art History last semester" experience in Rome.
The chains St. Peter was in.
Only a block or so from St. Peter in Chains, we turned a corner and BAM, there was the Colosseum.
Sunlight, clear sky, and warmth -- a real break from life in Glasgow.
They have triumphant arches in Italy, too.
Another major component of the trip: Gelato.
Di and a statue of Artemis (or Diana, her Roman name)
When in the Colosseum I was filled with thoughts of Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Joaquin Phoenix, and Russell Crowe.
My paltry attempt at a myspace photo.
Palantine Hill, and some forums.
The weather was absolutely gorgeous on Sunday. It then proceeded to rain on Monday and Tuesday.
Di and some orange trees.
Not exactly the tree at Rockefeller Center.
I love how in Europe you can just run into churches built into the sides of everyday buildings.
The Trevi Fountain, designed by Nicola Salvi and completed in 1762
If you look closely you can see how the pillar is intricately carved.
Parliament
The Spanish Steps, with a ridiculous tree/light thing they recently installed. I think it takes away from the site.
The first of many obelisks we saw in Rome
View from the top of the steps
I couldn't figure out what this carving in the church was, but Xixi and Di suggested it might be a sundial of some sort.
Fountain of Triton by Bernini, 1643, in Piazza Barberini
The Fountain of the Bees, also by Bernini (his family crest had bees on it), in another corner of Piazza Barberini
This is the entrance to the Capuchin monks cemetery, one of the most bizarre things I have seen in my life.
Obelisk #2!
Which is in the Piazza del Popolo
Does anyone else think it's kind of ironic that the sea god's fountain wasn't working?
In the background you can see the tents of the holiday market.
Di was sympathetic with the sad-looking lion.
Cows!
Romulus and Remus!
As Di termed it "Pope!Gate"
The walls of the Vatican
Giant foot
Raphael, The Deliverance of St. Peter, 1514.
Raphael, Disputation of the Sacrament, 1509-10.
Raphael, The School of Athens, 1509-10.
Di and I both thought the woman in the white was very mysterious. I looked it up on Wikipedia -- and she is supposed to be Hypatia, the first notable female mathematician.
Raphael, The Fire in Borgo, 1514.
Who knew there were some Dali paintings in the Vatican Museum?
Raphael, Transfiguration, 1517-20.
Raphael, Madonna of Foligno, 1511-12.
Raphael, Coronation of the Virgin, 1502-1503.
It's by Bordon, so I had to take a picture.
Awesome staircase in the Museum.
Look, Swiss Guards!
We guessed they were statues of Popes -- anyone know?
Obelisk #3
The lighting was horrible in the Basilica (at least, for picture taking purposes), so these are the best I've got. You really have to go to understand how insanely enormous it is.
Statue of St. Peter -- I rubbed his foot for good luck (it's basically a blob now instead of a foot, from all the years of people rubbing it).
St. Andrew with his Saltire.
A horrible picture of Michelangelo's dome.
Bernini, Tomb of Pope Urban VIII, 1627-47.
Michelangelo, The Pieta, 1499.
Mini-obelisk
In Italy, the soda cans are tall and skinny
Piazza Navona at night
Bernini, Fountain of the Four Rivers, 1651.
Obelisk #4.
The fountain is made up of representations of the four major rivers of the world (at the time of its design) -- the Ganges, the Rio de la Plata, the Nile, and the Danube.
The Nile (its head is covered because the sources of the river was unknown at the time).
Rio de la Plata on the left, Danube on the right.
Di in front of the Pantheon
The massive dome of the Pantheon
Church of Scotland!
Bernini, The Ecstasy of St. Teresa, 1647-52. My favorite piece by Bernini, it's in the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria.
The rest of the church was beautiful, too.
The market in Campo di Fiori.
Swordfish!
Piazza Navona in the day (all though it was pretty cloudy)
Di, Xixi, and a giant donut.
Castel d'St. Angelo, which we walked around but unfortunately could not get into, due to the intense flooding earlier that week.
Here is an example of the aftermath of the flooding.
Yes, those are the tops of the trees.
