Rome--Day 3

The third day was a day of endless piazzas, street performers, and quirky sites! We started at Piazza della Rotunda. This is where the Pantheon is, and we just did a little cruise-through. The piazza had a beautiful fountain in the middle, with the Pantheon as a backdrop. 

On our way, we stopped by the Colosseum, because the tram stop was a good place to start the day. Apparently on Sundays they close the street to traffic and allow tourists to roam the streets. This was awesome because it brought out all of the street performers. You all know how I'm a sucker for those weird, painted, sometimes creepy, people who dress up and do their little gig. Sometimes they decide to be still, other times they decide to do some tricks....anything to get you interested enough to snap a picture. While most people just glance and ignore, I am always ALWAYS thoroughly intrigued by these people. The creepiest/best one I've ever seen was in Florence, and I'll definitely tell you about him when I eventually get around to that blog post. Until then, here are the ones that I loved in Rome: 

Sarcophagus man ROCKED! Seriously perfectly perfectly still, to the point of wondering if he/she was real, or just a joke.  I also have to give credit to the statue men because they had the "aged statue" painting scheme down to a science. They totally blended in with the rest of the aged metal of the statues. Keep up the good work, people! 

After the fun of that, we headed to to Piazza Campo de Fiori, which means "field of flowers". This was a very fitting name because there was a market that took up the entire piazza, most of which were little flower stands. It was really pretty, although it made it very difficult to see the bones of the actual piazza. I'm sure there were some pretty buildings, and a fountain...but I couldn't see it! We took a time out to grab a cappuccino (I swear a cappuccino in any other part of the world doesn't hold a candle to a true Italian cappuccino!) and then did some shopping at the little stands. It was getting windy and of course I chose this day to wear a skirt, so I bought some much needed leggings. We also bought a few little gifty things, and then a delicious cup of fresh fruit. Then it was ciao to Piazza Campo de Fiori, and onto Piazza Navona. 

Piazza Navona was beautiful! There were two huge fountains, and the buildings that made up the square were typical Euro buildings that oozed the charm that I love. It started sprinkling at this point in the day so unfortunately we didn't stay long. Just long enough to soak up (no pun intended) the sights and get outta there! 

If you're wondering about why we are standing with a random clown, it was all in the name of charity. We donated money to a children's fund and in return we got some clown noses. I wish they made a reappearance at some point in the trip, but they got lost in our bags. Could have been fun to take a picture with them in each city. 

The rest of the day went rather quickly due to the unfortunate weather. We left the piazza, went over to grab some lunch at an awesome restaurant called Rosso Pomodoro, bought some umbrellas from the ever-popular "umbrella men" who make themselves available upon the slightest trickle of rain, and set out. Our final destination of the day was to the Boca della Verita, or the Mouth of Truth.

We searched and searched for this place, and it was definitely out of the way. This wasn't the most fun trek ever, considering we were balancing maps, cameras, and umbrellas. Eventually we found it after walking in a few slight circles. There was a longer line than I had imagined, but there were strict rules which moved the line along very quickly. According to legend, this is an old sewer gate and if you stick your hand it and you have told a lie it will bite your hand off. Well guess what!? I passed the test and am happy to say that I still have both hands accounted for. 

We toured the church that this is attached to, including the crypt before we schlepped through the rain to get to the nearest tram stop. The rain was coming down pretty hard so we took it as a sign to call it an early night and just hang out at the hotel, which would allow us to rest up for our big move the next day...we were on to Florence!