Italy Day 3: Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon & Colosseum

We woke up to a cold and wet day.. brrrr.. out with the umbrellas! I must say that it wasn't much fun trodding on water puddles and slippery cobblestones. There was a pretty skillful fiddler on the train.. I didn't realise he was a busker until he came around with his hat! We had arranged to meet Chee Keong at the Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps).. who graciously acted as our tour guide for most of the day. We climbed up the long flight of steps leading to the Trinità dei Monti and momentarily soaked in the ambience inside the church.. lulled by the melodic sound of the organ and the solemnness.. until Justin quipped 'Not like our church hor? We jump until the floor shake!'




Next, we visited Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain) and the boys threw a coin over the left shoulder to ensure a return to Rome. Jared had initially practised throwing under his left armpit back at the hotel and it was hilarious! Apparently, the water in the entire city of Rome is drinkable.. some public taps have an extra hole on top of the pipe.. local folks would stick their finger into the main opening to close it and make the water spurt out of the small hole like a fountain! Then, we were greeted by drifting music of the choir at the Pantheon.. ethereal voices soaring up to open sky in the dome roof.. especially the sopranos.. what culture!!!


Because of the rain, the artists could not display their work either at Piazza Navona and so, we stopped by the 'heavenly' 100-flavours gelato shop (Justin counted 132 altogether.. besides the usual macadamia.. creme.. coffee.. caramel.. hazelnut.. pistachio.. black cherry.. they even had Mars Bar.. Kit Kat and rice crispy!).. and lunched at a 3rd generation family-owned restaurant called 'Lo Zozzone Pizza Bianca Farcita'.. where they served pizza 'sandwiches'.. with smoked ham.. cheese.. dried tomatoes.. turkey.. egg.. and rocket (type of salad green). The boys tried Chinotto (Italian Coke) for the first time and rather liked the taste!




We had to make our way to the Colosseum in the rain and tried to picture the grandeur of the whole structure from the ruins.. it must have been such a gruesome sight to spectate gladiators and lions fighting in the arena.. and by the time we got to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill entrance, it was already closed.. *SIGH*.. what a pity! But my feet were killing me by then.. whatever happened to my faithful Doc Marten of many years? Could my feet have grown in size after the pregnancies? I really.. REALLY.. need to buy new shoes!!!