Tag: Trevi Fountain

Club Italy Vacation 2023 Day 1 and Day 2

Friday, June 2, 2023 and Saturday, June 3, 2023

After over a year of planning this trip to Italy and it was finally here! Ten of us are heading to Italy!

Joseph our driver!
We are SO excited!
John Glenn International Airport, here we come!

We had an afternoon flight from Columbus to Washington, DC and had a short layover before we boarded our United flight to Rome. Both flights went smoothly and we arrived in Rome around 8:30 AM. Saturday morning. Italy was 6 hours ahead of us.

Our flight pattern.
Off the plane to catch a shuttle for the main terminal.

We had a car service meet us at the airport and drove us to our hotel which was located on the outskirts of Rome!

Hilton Rome Eur La Lama

Our rooms were ready so we all went to our rooms to clean up after our 24 hour day! We met and walked to the closest Metro station to head into Rome! We rode the subway to the Colosseum stop. When we walked up the steps, the first sight for our group was the Roman Colosseum! Dave and I were the only members of our group that had visited Rome before. The rest of our group was in awe. Their expressions and comments were priceless!

The Colosseum- their first view.

Even though our group was exhausted we spent the afternoon exploring “The Eternal City”! We walked by the Forum and visited the Trevi Fountain where we all tossed our coin over our left shoulder to ensure our return to Rome. The Trevi Fountain was the most famous fountain in Rome. It was built in the mid-seventeen hundreds. It was the largest Baroque fountain in the city and known throughout the world.

We also walked up the Spanish Steps! They were built between 1723 and 1726 and consisted of 135 steps and 3 different terraces. The steps began at the Piazza di Spagna up to the French monastery church, Trinita dei Monti. At the top was a great view filled with many tourists.

The Spanish Steps
The view from the top!

Below is a slideshow of more of the sights that we saw on our first day in Rome!

Picture 1- Piazza del Campidoglio, Picture 2- part of the Forum, Picture 3- Roman Forum as we walk by, Picture 4- walking from our hotel to the Metro station, Picture 5- the Pantheon from the side, Picture 6- the front of the Pantheon, Picture 7- Piazza della Minerva, Picture 8- Monument to Cola di Rienzo, Picture 9- Forum of Caesar

Day 8 Best of Amalfi Coast Adventure

Saturday, November 10th, 2018

We left our hotel in Sorrento by 8:30 AM to head to Pompeii.  The road is very narrow and little room for error!

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When we arrived in Pompeii we met our local guide.  We walked through a brothel and the forum.  We also walked through a villa that had only been open for 1 1/2 years.  The weather was perfect for exploring this uncovered city from the past.

Mt. Vesuvius is in the distance and looks so unassuming.  It is about 6 miles away.  Pompeii was a busy port city before the eruption.  Pompeii was covered by 20 feet of ash when Vesuvius erupted and that ash added over a mile to the coastline.  Pompeii is no longer on the coast when it was discovered.

After our tour of Pompeii, we drove back to Rome.  On the way we saw Monte Casino which was Italy’s bloodiest battle during WWII.

We arrived at our hotel around 5 PM.

IMG_2783  It was the Romanico Palace Hotel.   Our room was quite unique.

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The view from our room!

Once we checked into our room, we put our belongings in the room and took off to visit Trevi Fountain.  It was within walking distance of our hotel!  The fountain was packed with people but we finally made it up close to throw in our coins so we would return to Roma!

 

The US Embassy was down the road from our hotel.  We walked by the complex on our way to Trevi Fountain.  We met a couple from our group and joined them for dinner at a “mom and pop” restaurant that was recommended by the hotel.  It was called Ristorante La Lampada.  It was a delicious meal.  IMG_3660

It was a great ending to our trip!  Tomorrow we leave to head home!  Our time in Italy was amazing and we look forward to our next adventure!