Passing Through Rome

We stop in Rome for an afternoon on our way home with an early flight out of Fiumicino Airport the next morning.  We stay in the city near the train station and walk around the city for a few hours, first heading over to the Colosseum, then past the ruins of the Forum, and over to the Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II.

Past the Colosseum

Forum ruins

Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II

Along the way (packed with tourists), street vendors, artists, and actors fill the sidewalks.

On the streets

As we move on through the city, we pass shops and restaurants, many with outside dining on this beautiful day.

Dining out

We emerge into Piazza di Trevi to see the Trevi Fountain, then back into the city streets to find our way over to the Spanish Steps (Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti) at Piazza di Spagna.

Trevi fountain

Construction of the public buildings in Piazza di Spagna began two hundred years before Christ and the Romans used the square as a space for gymnastics, exercises, and tournaments.  The proximity of the Tiber River brought on periodic damage and destruction of the buildings by floods over the years.  It's still an incredible space.

Piazza di Spagna

Spanish steps

Strolling back to our hotel, we pass through more great squares and architecture 

Piazza della Repubblica

As the sun sets, the city lights up and we view the sights from the roof of our hotel, looking toward the train station (Roma Termini) and the other way into the city.

Roma Termini

The other way

 

It's always great to end a trip in Rome!

Dining in Rimini

Due to the pouring rain and the great food in our hotel, we have a few dinner in the I-Fame restaurant in the I-Suite hotel.  We start each meal with a bountiful bread assortment.

Bread

In our meals at the hotel, we dine on cream of eggplant soup, raw amberjack, pappardelle with cuttlefish ragout, nettles gnocchi, calamarata pasta with crustaceans, pasta with oysters and burnt lemon, and tagliatella with Bolognese ragout.  And, of course, a desert assortment.

Starters and mains

Desert

Our last day, as the heavy rains lighten up a bit, we walk across the street to Ristorante Sabbioni, where we have tomato bruschetta, octopus and potato, seafood risotto, seafood ravioli, and lobster pasta.  Wow, this turns out to be a lot of food!  All delicious and we eat every bit.

Tomato bruschetta

Octopus and potato

Seafood risotto

Seafood ravioli

Lobster pasta

More incredible Italian dining experiences!

 

Rimini Beaches

In between the storms, we stroll along the lungomare boardwalk outside our hotel along the sea.  The beaches are flooded and only the brave are actually walking on the sand.  This storm has flooded many towns in central Europe and we've been watching the damage and devastation on the TV for several days.  Now, it has arrived in eastern Italy.

Along the beach

Ferris wheel at the end of the street

Continuing along the lungomare

As the sun sets, the storm starts to clear, but the water remains everywhere.

The sun sets

The next morning, we rise and find that the storm has truly moved on and, just off shore, the sea is full of fishing vessels.

Morning

It's been a short and stormy visit to Rimini (we'll need to return in better weather) and it's now time to head home through Rome.