Obelisks, oblelisks, everywhere

We spend all of today just walking around the streets of Rome looking at various Piazzas and fountains and streets. And yes, it seemed that everytime we turned a corner there was an Egyptian obelisk. Even in the park there were at least two.

We started off the day by heading to the Campo dè Fiori which is a market in a little piazza. There wasn't too much there and I guess that must be because it is still winter. But we got there by walking along the Via Giulia which is a 500 year old street lined with lots of old shops. We then passed through the Piazza Navona before heading to see the Pantheon. I wasn't that impressed when we were walking up to it (from behind) because all you could see was the bricks on the outside but I was amazed once we saw the front and got inside. The inside was so pretty and the huge dome is just breathtaking. Although we did ponder what they did when it rains as the centre is open to the sky. Gem thinks the floor must be slightly sloped to the centre where there are what looks like drain holes.

Next up we visited the Fontana di Trevi where we tossed in some coins to guarantee our return to Rome. We then watched all the other tourists doing it too and we reckon they must make a tidy sum from all the coins we saw tossed in! We then wandered up to the Spanish steps where we hunted around for some Gelati to have while sitting on the steps. (by the way, is it Gelati or Gelato?) Anyway, we found some place and they gave us some very very elabourate ice creams with bits and things stuck all over it (including a sparkly streamer) and proceeded to charge us our entire week's Gelati budget for it. I think we were had. They were pretty amazing though.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through the Villa Borghese (a big park) before looking at the Piazza del Popolo and wandering down the Via Condotti. Thats the street where there are heaps of the really expensive fashion shops are like Prada and Gucci and Jimmy Choo are. We also headed along Via del Corso and saw more shops and some guys doing spray paint art (on canvas, not walls). The spray paint art had really vibrant colours but usually had some futuristic stlye colloseum with several moons and pyschadelic sky. We thought it was really cool and unique but then 20 metres down the road was another guy doing the same thing with the same colloseum stencil.

Anyway, thats pretty much it. We got back to the hostel and had fresh pasta for dinner again. We are planning to head out to Tivoli tomorrow to look at Hadrian's Villa. Well hopefully, provided we can find out how to get there.

Bye!!