Rome Italy Day 3 (Trastevere & Jewish Grotto)

 Thursday, January 19, 2023 - Trastevere and Jewish Neighborhoods, Pantheon

This is a neighborhood known as the "heart of Rome" over the river where a lot of the Romans live. There are very few Romans that actually live in the city so this neighborhood is like stepping into the life of a Roman and seeing how their everyday life is. This was the first day that we tried the public transportation and learned a lesson the hard way. The ticket said on the back "must be validated before first use" but didn’t explain how. We thought we could get it stamped on our first ride…nope. We hopped on the bus and immediately was surrounded by three “policia” who wrote us each a ticket for $54. We probably could have argued and got out of it but they did not speak English and we needed to get off at the next stop, so we just took it….so dumb. The next day we made sure to get our ticket stamped before using it…lesson learned. We wandered the streets and alleys, found a cute 100 year old bakery and more churches. We went in a lot of churches this day. We found a couple of interesting churches...not some of my favorite. One was dedicated/worshipped to a lady named Cecilia. She was buried in the Crypt under the church in a beautiful, gold encrusted crypt. We then crossed the river over into the Jewish Grotto. We ate the “recommended” Jewish fried artichokes. They were okay, not great. But a check off the bucket list. While here we toured a Jewish Synagogue. Then went to the Cat Sanctuary. This is old ancient ruins of four temples and a theater with steps where Julia Caesar was assassinated. The cats have now taken over the area and are revered. We were making such good time that day that we also made it to the Pantheon. The Pantheon is the worlds oldest operating building. Originally built as a temple to the Gods long before Christs time and is now a functioning Catholic church. It was so huge and fascinating. The Pantheon is also where the artist Raphael is buried. One our way back home we passed back by Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the shopping center AND found a Disney Store...so much fun!!

Be still my heart! Another start to our day beginning with Italian Hot Chocolate. It is so thick, not too sweet and always the perfect temperature. Haha!

Breakfast area at the hotel. Adam filling up his plate. 

Views from the hotels roof top terrace. 

Ticket for not verifying our bus pass first. 

River Tiber with Castel Sant' Angelo in the background. 

Just another day exploring!

Santa Maria in Trastevere.

So much of the art in the churches tell a story. This one depicts Christ and Mary with each of his 12 apostles. Then below it are 12 sheep that again represent the 12 apostles. The pictures below the sheep are scenes from Christs life. 

Rome still has working pay phones on the streets.

As soon as I saw this alley, it reminded me of a picture Calli sent home from her mission below...

(Calli in Spain)

Funnest cookie from a 100 year old bakery. 

Santa Cecilia in Trastevere

Another extremely interesting crypt. Crypts usually contain tombs and relics underneath the church and look like this but...

Thus one was so crazy. It was a huge mosaic, gold encrusted room with the tomb of Cecilia.  

She is in the casket behind this window. 

More views of Rome.

Laundry hanging on lines outside their windows

They Love their huge tall doors.

Another similarity with pictures Calli sent from Spain was the door knobs being in the middle of the door. 

Leaving Trastevere and going back over the river to the Jewish Grotto. 

Trying the much recommended Jewish Fried Artichoke.

The Great Synagogue of Rome

The men were asked to wear the skull caps before entering the Synagogue.

The Cat Sanctuary, where Julias Cesar was assassinated. 

Pantheon.

The oldest functioning building in the World. It dates back to before Christ.

The Oculus. The space at the very top is open, no glass. It was raining off and on this day so there was water on the floor.

Huge round church

Raphael's resting place

Back side of the Pantheon. 

Santa Maria sopra Minerva

We walked in to the church and music was blaring from the organ. It was so cool. Sounded like Phantom of the Opera. We hung out here for a while and just listened.

Angels holding up the organ. 

Disney is Disney, no matter what continent you're on. 

So happy!! Bought some ornaments for our Disney Tree. 

Trevi Fountain at night. 

Spanish Steps...again!

Got this picture from my mom. They took the kids out to dinner Thursday night!