Rome

Day 3

 On our third day in Rome, we wandered around without an agenda. We were ready for a break from the constant action of the previous couple of days so we took long walks through little streets that looked like this.

At one point I found a piazza filled with stars. 

 We finally made our way to the Tiber River, which offered this beautiful view of St. Peter's Basilica.

Once across the river, we came upon the St. Angel Castle. We chose not to pay to go inside and give our bank accounts a break.

Instead, we continued to walk along the river on the bike and pedestrian path that's paved along it.

Eventually we found Tiber Island. We didn't know what was special about it at the time, other than it is the only island in the river, but having done a little research I discovered that the island has been associated with healing in the past. I can say that my feet felt better after sitting on the island for a while before continuing on.

Next we walked along the area in which chariot races used to be held. You can see the Forum in the background. 

And finally, we ended up at the Roman Baths. 

As a whole the baths were my favorite ruins. They weren't too big, yet extremely impressive. It was easy to imagine what they might have looked like in their prime.  I also liked that the place wasn't swarming with tourists, unlike the Forum and the Colosseum.  

After dinner we took a little tour of the monuments at night. My best memories of cities seem to come from walking around when everything is lit up, it's magical. 

For my male readers, I took this picture of a Lamborghini Gallardo.

The Trevi Fountain was especially beautiful all lit up.

We ended the evening by eating gelato in front of the fountain and then taking part in a very popular tradition. It is said that if you turn your back to the fountain and trow a coin in, you will return to Rome one day. I befriended and American couple in front of the fountain who were sweet enough to take a picture of Nick, Laura and I tossing in our coins, and Chase pretending to. I guess he doesn't really want to come back unlike the rest of us.