Search This Blog

Saturday 7 November 2015

A Roman adventure - part 5

After eating pizza outside the Colosseum Laura went around the outside of the Roman Forum which she had visited the day before.  It was raining so she peeped out from inside her girl's raincoat to see the splendid sight of the ruins in the rain.
Laura saw the Roman Forum from the Via del Fiori Imperiali
This building, now a church, was once the Curia where the Roman Senate met
The Roman Forum with the Monument of Victor Emmanuel (known as the wedding cake) in the background
Round the front of the Monument of Victor Emmanuel was the tomb of the unknown warrior.  Laura discovered this was guarded day and night by Italian soldiers.
On the side of a huge building on the Capitoline hill Laura saw the mother wolf with Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome
Laura admired the Roman Forum from the Capitoline hill
Laura decided to go and see the Vatican, so she traveled by bus with her girl.  It was still raining when she reached it and the queues were very long, snaking all across St Peter's Square.  It was too late in the day to join the queue to see inside St Peter's Basilica.  Instead she admired a shop window near the Vatican which was already decorated for Christmas.
The Christmas decorations, including an animated nativity scene in a shop window near the Vatican
Laura realised that Pinocchio was important to Italians when she saw this collection in the shop window
Laura walked towards the river Tiber and looked back at St Peter's Basilica from the river bank
After crossing the river Laura walked through the narrow Roman streets where the tourist buses couldn't go, she found a long street called Via dei Coronari.  It had a lot of quaint little shops and artisan workshops.  She saw a stonemason/plasterer's workshop, then came to a lovely antique and traditional model shop.
There were plenty of model soldiers in one window of the shop
In another window Laura saw a jointed wooden doll or model, it reminded her of a new friend who had come to join the doll family at home recently.  Unfortunately the glass window made it almost impossible to take a good photo of this girl.
And then Laura found the best ice cream shop in Rome - Gelateria del Teatro.
The amazing flavours of ice cream at Gelateria del Teatro
The ice cream shop had a window onto the street showing the kitchen where they made fresh ice cream daily using proper ingredients rather than sugared syrup flavourings.
Gelateria del Teatro kitchen window with ingredients on display
The ice cream shop was beside a little piazza on the street
It was very hard to choose from the enticing range of flavours which included unusual combinations such as Lemon and Rosemary, Tiramisu or Lavendar and White Peach.  Laura had a delicious chocolate mint ice cream on a cone.
Laura loved her Italian ice cream
Laura watched the ice cream chef mix up a strawberry ice cream, he was pleased to see that she was enjoying her ice cream and gave her a thumbs up and a big smile.
Laura discovered a wonderful antique shop with the best display she could wish to see - some wonderful porcelain dolls, a toy horse and many interesting objects were on display
The beautiful antique porcelain dolls in the shop window on the Via dei Coronari
There was even a dollshouse family on their wooden double bed
There was a shop with Murano glass on display
Laura loved the narrow street of the Via dei Coronari, on the map it looked like a main road and it lead Laura to a large piazza
At the entrance to the Piazza Navona was an amazing toy shop with magical window displays. The shop was founded in 1945.
Laura was delighted with this beautiful toy shop window display, all dressed for Christmas
Another display window of the toy shop showed a Noah's Ark with cuddly toy animals
There was also a display of elegant artist dolls
Another window of the toy shop had some antique items, part of a private collection belonging to the shop.  Inside the shop, which was on two levels (via spiral staircases) Laura saw more of the private collection alongside many toys for sale. 
Upstairs was a huge collection of toy animals for sale, including Steiff bears.  
The fountain in the middle of Piazza Navona included large carved statues and mythical figures
Through a couple more streets Laura found the Pantheon, a Roman temple to the gods which had been converted to a Christian church, hence its survival. 
The Pantheon was so impressive and monumental
There were enormous columns at the front of the Pantheon
Inside the Pantheon Laura could clearly see the Roman features of the building, in this side chapel behind the columns the wall was no longer lined with marble, the holes in the brickwork showed where the support pegs for the marble lining would have been.
This side chapel in the Pantheon was still lined with marble
Laura gazed up at the large (9 metre) hole in the concrete coiffured ceiling of the Pantheon which was letting through the last of the daylight at dusk and making the ceiling shine with a soft glow
She took a photo of the main altar in the Pantheon
Laura was very impressed with the Pantheon
In the Via Aquiro she saw a Pinocchio workshop, filled with enticing toys and models.
It was getting dark as Laura and her girl went through the streets of Rome to find their way back to the hotel. It had been a very long and fascinating day in Rome, Laura was very tired but happy about all the things she had seen and experienced.

(see also Part 1 of Laura's adventures in Rome and Part 2 when Laura visited the Palatine HillPart 3 when Laura explored the Roman Forum and Part 4 when Laura discovered the Colosseum)

3 comments:

Kendal said...

I'm both amazed and stunned about just how much Laura got to see within such a short space of time. Wonderful too to have these magnificent photos to look back on and remember incase the sights and images might tend to get a little fuzzy as time moves on.

Adored the shop window displays. So much to see in each one.
The ice cream palour sounds almost as if it's 'out of this world.'The flavours scrumptious. Would have taken me ages to finally decide on which one to choose!

Sorry to hear that it rained on a few of your sightseeing parades although it seems that it didn't affect Laura quite so much taking cover under dmd's raincoat.

Off now to try to catch up on the rest of your posts that I have had to miss due to doing my CnS blogging!

Sharon said...

What a lot of love things to see and great shops to explore.....I love those toy shops, so interesting!
I'm sure that Laura and her girl had a fantastic time visiting Rome, and certainly some great photographic memories for her to look back on in the future!
x

Ginger said...

How thrilling to see so many wonderful shops and their colorful and enticing window fronts. I thnk I could spend hours in the toy and antique shops and would have to have some tasty ice cream too! Laura and her girl are really seeing so many fascinating buildings, statues, and the area where the Vatican is too. Just a great experiece for you all. Thank you for sharing! :) xxx