Two days in Rome

It serves me right for gloating in my first post. We set off for the Trevi Fountain under a cloudy sky. As we walked down to the Metro I thought it looked a bit threatening but it's hard to turn back to get a umbrella once we are on our way. By the time we reached the stop for the Trevi it was raining though not heavily. We  waited a while for it to stop and then made our way to the fountain. Oh lah, when we arrived we discovered the the famous ediface is receivibg restoration. The best option was a photo of a photo of the fountain. I took one and it is just possible to dimly see Neptunes face thought the scafolding.  The rain  hadn't really given up so we decided to save the Spanish Steps  for another time. When we arrived back at Battistini it was raining HARD.  We waited for quite a while and when I was faint with hunger I pressured Bob into buying a €3 umbrella frohm the touts at the station, of course it didn't work properly and we arrived at the restaurant slightly damp and looking straggly. Fortunately it was a neighbour hood restaurant recommended by our landlady and they let us in. It is raeasonable and serves good food so we will be going back.

Saturday we went for a walk around the historic district including the Parthenon. This walk is set out in Lonely Planet and was well worthwhile.The Pathenon is stupendous, especially from the outside . It was constructed as an aethiest building originally and the interior is now a very decorative church. It still boasts the largest concrete dome ever constructed. We then ambled our was towards the final point of viewing. In Rome there is always stunning buildings to see along the way. So much so that we were so busy gawking that we missed the slightly obscure access to the Piazza Novona because we were looking right instead of left and my map wasn't very specific.
We realised that we had walked too far but could see signs of the river ahead. Hence we had our first good look at the Tiber. We then managed to find out way back to the famous Piazza and the three fountains, one of which was designed by Bernini. It was worth the walk just to see everyone else who was wandering the square as well as the square itself.
We decided on a slightly differen't walk back to the next Metro station and lo we found the Spanish Steps.
That night we tackled the bus system, guided by LP and went over the River to Trastevere for a stroll and dinner. This area is very popular with lots of people, stalls and restaurants. We enjoyed the atmosphere but managed to find the periphery to avoid the main tourist traps. Found a great family owned restaurant with mid range prices and had a lovely meal.
Today we have been out to Terme Carracula (Carraculas 'Baths). These were built in the 1st century AD and took  9000 slaves 5 years to finish. It is a huge complex, a hundred feet high in places having had many levels with cold rooms , heated above ground pool, mosaic floors and fabulous statury. We should see some of the statues in Naples, they were part of a noble woman's dowery. Some of the mosaic floors are still in place and are amazingly intricate and quite beautiful.
We are enjoying the food here particularly because having an apartment we walk across the road to the bakery for fresh bread daily though we have learned to shop early because the locals like it as much as we do. Then it's a stop at the Supermercado for fresh sliced ham, prosciuto, salami
and cheese. On the was home there is a fabulous patisseri so you can see lunch is a feast.
Cheers, Gail