Piazza Walk

On Tuesday our small group did a walk around the north part of town. Our first stop was Piazza del Popolo, which was thankfully located near my new apartment so I did not have much of a walk. Today was excruciatingly hot, easily the hottest day since we have arrived in Rome. In my short walk to this piazza, I was already sweating bullets. While walking around this piazza, I attempted to find any spots that were covered in shade. From Popolo, we moved onto our next destination: Piazza Espagna. It was kind of bizarre seeing the Spanish Steps this early, as there were not many people there. Usually this area is packed with both tourists and Italians, but around 10 AM it is actually a peaceful area. We filled up our water in the nearby fountain, took a break in the shade, and then braved the sun as we headed to our final piazza. The final stop on our journey was the Piazza Republica, which is the area where many of the Italian rallies and protests are held. For instance, when President Bush came to Rome the piazza was covered with protestors waving their posters and belting out anti-Bush chants. This is a very beautiful piazza, and one I did not get to see very often because it is not very close to our apartment. This was a fun walk despite the heat, because it forced us to visit spots that we did not frequent often. It was nice going to different areas since this was my last week in Rome.