Rome: Piazza Navona and Castel Sant'Angelo

Piazza Navona was one of our favorite places in Rome. There are three neat fountains here, although Bernini's Four Rivers fountain was under construction so we didn't get to see most of it. We also walked around and looked at all the beautiful art. I bought some pieces here. There are no cars allowed in here, only people on foot. We also found a place to refill our water since it was so hot everywhere we went. Here's a picture of Shane at one end of the Piazza.

Someone trying to sell the artwork.

Right outside the Piazza was some of the best pizza we had in Italy. It was realy thick and had a great variety of ingredients on it. The two we bought were unique: one had red and yellow bell peppers and the other had spinach and potatoes. Yum-yum!

From the Piazza Navona, we walked about a mile to the Castel Sant'Angelo, a castle and fortress built by Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for his family. Later, it became a fortress for the popes. An underground tunnel leads from the Vatican to the castle, and they would bring a pope here when his life was in danger. Today, it is a museum.

The castle is massive, but it is set down in a valley, so you can't see it from too many spots in the city, not like you can the Vatican and other big monuments.

This is the walking bridge to the castle. The bridge goes over the Tiber River.

To get to the top of the castle, first you walk up a 360 degrees circle, and then you come across a ramp that splices the castle in half. It's all very planned out and cool. The ramp Shane is standing on is the one that splices the castle in half.

Our first picture together: This was taken in the castle. The Tiber River is in the backgound. Sorry it's so dark. I guess the flash didn't go off!

We walked to the very top of the castle, and found this scuplture. You could see a lot of the city from up here at the top.