What a Load of Bloggers: September 2022

Rome, September 2022

(Click on the photographs to enlarge them)

We stayed at the Trevi Palace Luxury Apartments - not at all accurately titled but basically a three-star hotel. Comfortable enough and a good starting point for walks. It was just a few steps from the ever and very crowded Trevi Fountains. The fountains are indeed very impressive but the size and density of the crowding takes the edge of the experience.

Santa Maria in Aracoeli

Piazza Madonna di Loreto viewed from the magnificent Il Vittoriano.

Il Vittoriano is the monument to Victor Emmanuel II and provides some of the best free views in Rome.

From Il Vittoriano looking towards the Colosseum.

Saint Bambino in Santa Maria

Santa Maria

Filling up the water bottle at the Baraccia Fountain at the bottom of the Spanish Steps

Spanish Steps with Trinita dei Monti at the top

The Temple of Antonius & Faustina in The Forum. A church has been built behind the facade of the ancient temple.

In the Piazza della Minerva. A very small obelisk held up by an elephant.

The beautifully decorated Galleria Sciarra.

The frescoes were completed in 1895 and depict Roman ladies' fashions of the period.

Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza. Beautiful!

Pasquino the gossiping statue

Piazza Navona. The unexpectedly cloudy morning gave us a break from the 35 degree heat.

The Pantheon. This is one of the best preserved ancient temples of the ancient world and now the church of Santa Maria ad Martyres. The dome is the widest masonry dome in Europe. At its centre is a 27ft diameter circular hole through which the sunlight, rain and, on very rare occasions, the snow can enter.

Il Villa Borghese

The Borghese is a relatively small but spectacular museum containing marvellous Bernini sculptures and a collection of paintings that includes some by Caravaggio.

The rape of Prosperina

Venus Victrix

Anointed by John the Baptist

Apollo & Daphne

Sleeping Hermaphrodite - positioned so that you cannot see the front!

St Jerome

The Vatican may be the world's smallest nation but it houses what has to be the world's most staggeringly huge collection of sculptures and paintings in its museums.

The entrance area to the museums is like an airport concourse and the crowds were enormous - sometimes uncomfortably so. There would be many casualties if an evacuation alarm sounded I am sure.

You need to have a very good knowledge of the museums to be able to find and enjoy the key exhibits without a guide. Our guide, Pasquale, was excellent and the radio earpieces enabled us to hear his detailed commentary. Fact/fiction: If you were to spend one minute looking at each of the exhibits it would take you two years to complete your visit. We had a good 3 hours!