Chris & Kelly's Travel Adventures

A long day on our feet, gotta walk some of that pasta and gelato chub off!

We first visited a church on the Piazza Navona (we had visited the square and fountains yesterday), Sant' Agnese in Agone.  It wasn't an overly large church, but pretty with its frescoed dome and use of pink marble.  The sculpture is of the namesake Saint Agnes, which according to Chris's research was a 12 year old girl who was burned at the stake (as in the sculpture) for refusing to marry the son of a roman official and instead dedicated herself to Christ (while Christianity was still an underground religion) and then her younger sister was stoned to death for defending her.   Not a happy story.

Next up was Chiesa di Sant' Ignazio di Loyola.  I haven't done my research on this church, but when I saw it on a Rick Steve's episode...I knew I wanted to see the grey/green spiral marble columns up close.  They were very impressive as were the painting ceilings.

We followed the crowds and found the famous Trevi Fountain.  It is massive and beautifully detailed, but always crowded.  We will try another day, this time closer to dawn!

Sat down at an outdoor cafe for some lunch...somewhere between Trevi fountain and the Spanish steps.  1st course was a very tasty goop of fresh soft cheese, olive puree, sun dried tomatoes and crushed croutons.  Chris thought he ordered 1 hamburger and somehow managed to get 2, and one of them was topped with sauteed spinach!  He said "different, but good".  I went against my better judgement and ordered a caesar salad as most meals in Italy don't come with vegetables, and I was feeling the need for something healthier.  It is so strange that their markets are full of the best looking produce I've ever seen, but you never see them on a plate!

The salad was ok, I ended up eating 1/2 of one of Chris's burgers 😋

We tried to visit the Spanish steps, but it was so overcrowded neither of us were comfortable...so decided for a quick picture and to try again another day/time. 

Basilica Sant' Andrea delle Fratte was our last stop of the day.  This small church is known for 2 angel statues that were commissioned by Pope Clement IX.  Bernini was to make the 2 angel statues for Ponte Angelo, however when the Pope saw them he thought they were too beautiful to be put out into the elements and gifted them back to Bernini.  Eventually Bernini's heirs donated them to this small church years after his death. 

Lack of energy and sore feet decided we would not venture far for dinner.  Just our unfortunate luck that the closest places served pizza with a gelato shop right around the corner.  Oh what a tragedy!