Rome wasn't toured in a day

What wonders were still awaiting the mystery ladies and their camera? They were certainly busy. I keep wondering where they ate. Were there restaurants? Were they staying with family or friends? Were they highly ranked enough to reside with royalty? Was there royalty in Italy? Or did they rent a villa and hire a local woman to cook and take care of them during their visit?

Could they be strolling the grounds of their temporary residence?

 

First stop on the tour bus is Castel Sant'Angelo or Hadrian's Mausoleum.

 

St. Peter's Basilica, of course named for the first Apostle and the first Pope and leader of the Church.

 

The Pyramid of Gaius Cestius (some sources have it spelled Caius Cestius)

 

The legendary tombstone of English poet, John Keats, in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome. The inscription reads:

This Grave
contains all that was Mortal
of a
Young English Poet
Who
on his Death Bed
in the bitterness of his Heart
at the Malicious Power of his Enemies
Desired
these Words to be engraved on his TombStone

"Here lies One
Whose Name was writ in Water"

Feb 24 1821

 

And finally, the piece de resistance, the Trevi Fountain, made famous by three movies...La Dolce Vita, Three Coins in the Fountain and Roman Holiday.

 

And a little treat for the eyes, courtesy of the great Anita Ekberg.



The lovely Dorothy McGuire and Jean Peters.



I couldn't find a scene with the Trevi, but here are Audrey and Gregory at Piazza di Spagna.



Tomorrow the mystery ladies will take to the waterways in a gondola.

When in Rome

The mystery ladies, having made their way by train from Lucerne to Rome, immersed themselves in the local ancient tourist traps. We aren't very much different today, are we?

Their first stop seems to be Piazza di Spagna, or The Spanish Steps. In the seventeenth century, it was called Trinita dei Monti after the church sitting at the top.

 

Piazza del Campidoglio where a statue of Marcus Aurelius stands. The website says that it is a replica and that the original stands in the Palazza Nuovo. I wonder if this is the orginal.

 

The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina was built in 141 A.D. and was transformed into the Church of San Lorenzo in Miranda in the Middle Ages. The ladies are having a look at the gardens.

 

 

Next on the tour was The Coliseum whose real name is Flavius amphitheatre. They also viewed the Arch of Constantine.

 

It is amazing to me that the ruins of these fabulous structures seem to be at the same stage of decay as they were a hundred years ago.

Tomorrow the ladies will continue their visit to Rome.