Rome: Arriving and Exploring

On July 16, we arrived in Rome.  Although we had had a long travel day, we still wanted to spend some time exploring the city where we had newly arrived, so we took a walk.  We began in the Campo de' Fiori, which is perhaps a two minute walk from our hotel.

From there, our stalwart navigators, Griffin, JJ, and Zach, studied their maps and led us around some nearby places in Rome.

We went to a bridge over the Tiber River.  We all enjoyed the beautiful views of the river from the bridge.  Claire and Alex, both enthusiastic student photographers, remarked on the loveliness of the light nearby--it was almost sunset.

We tried our first (first of many!) gelato, at a shop near Campo de' Fiori.  They had a wide variety of flavors.  Some, like chocolate and strawberry, were familiar to most of us, while others, like fior di latte (milk) and straciatella, were more unusual.

After gelato, some students felt tired, and so they went back to the hotel.  Other students wanted to explore more, so we visited Piazza Navona.  Piazza Navona has a number of important pieces of public art, including the Fountain of the Four Rivers by Bernini.

In the coming days, we would see many more pieces by Bernini, so this was a good introduction to his work, and to Rome in general.

Photos by Hannah Welch