March 15th

March 15^th

Today is the last day that we have in Rome to ourselves before we meet our tour group in fact we meet them tonight. The Spanish steps or in Italian Scalinata Di Piazza Di Spagna, ironically enough were not built by the Spanish but instead by the French. There are 12 flights of stairs that are supposed to be transcending far above for a spectacular view unfortunately it was sort of difficult to see above the heads of the people and the market owners trying to get you to buy their fares. It was nice however. The view was nice. Above the stairs rested the Trinita Dei Monti church.

Rome due to a lot of flooding rose 30 feet of time and so underneath what we see of Rome; the surface, there is a whole other underground city covered by layers of dirt hidden with time. So naturally we had to go see an excerpt of underground Rome. Beneath the church of San Clemente they have excavated 60ft of ruins, frescoes, and the room of the Mithras (a cult) where they performed grisly rituals. Underground it was cold and dank and I couldn’t take any pictures unfortunately as I was asked not to. The old bathing rooms, an underground stream. It was all very fascinating. Tonight we meet our tour group and will go on about exploring Italy.