Rome, Italy 2018 ~ Day 4: Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo de’ Fiori, Trastevere, Tiber Island

Lots of walking on the fourth day in Italy

Thurs. Sept. 6, 2018. Day 4:

It was a mildly relaxing day today with lots of sights to see but with mostly casual trips and sightseeing; nothing too ambitious like the past two days. 😀

We started with the first meal of the day at La Pasticceria Siciliana again with a pastry and hot beverage each. This time, I opted for a Cestino di Melle for an extra €1 in exchange of a regular croissant and a caffe latte again.

The Cestino di Melle (apple slices on top of a custard tart) was warmed up and tasted extra good because of it. Ken’s pastry had a rich Nutella filling inside of it.

First meal at La Pasticceria Siciliana

Cestino di Melle and caffee latte. Finally some more time this morning to sit and enjoy our pastries

After breakfast, we browsed the nearby grocery and pharmacies for some hygiene essentials before taking the subway again from Cipro stop to Beradarini.

Streets near Beradarini station

Orange and mango juice stop first

Although we had just seen the Trevi Fountain just 12 hours prior, we stopped by for a third look. This time, we saw the gigantic marble fountain in the bright white light of the day. It was much more crowded today as well.

Trevi Fountain at 2 p.m.

You can never take too many photos here

Watched fresh ravioli filled with an herb ricotta being made in the window of a restaurant

Top of the Pantheon

After the Trevi Fountain, we headed towards the Pantheon (Piazza della Rotonda, 00186 Roma RM, Italy). It was just minutes away and little did I know that it was much bigger and more sacred than I anticipated. (The Pantheon was a former Roman temple and is now a church.)

It was free admission and silence was to be observed inside of it. There were lots of tourists milling about but not impossible to browse or walk through.

Inside of the Pantheon

Silence in the Pantheon

It’s so grand

Contrast between the old and the new-ish

We stopped by Pinocchio’s shop, which was filled with super cute wooden art pieces. Address is: Bartolucci (Via dei Pastini, 96-98, 00186 Roma RM, Italy).

Everything made of wood

Who’s lying?

All of the streets were classic Italian style and so picturesque. Balcony doors, shuttered windows, cobblestone bricks.

Ahhhh 🙂

While walking and seeing buildings like this 🙂

We stopped inside the Piazza Navona (Piazza Navona, 00186 Roma RM, Italy) for some photos beside the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers).

First look at Piazza Navona

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers)

Afternoon snacks at Il Fornaio

We enjoyed a brief midday snack at Il Fornaio (Via de’ Baullari, 5, 00186 Roma RM, Italy). It was a traditional style pastry stop selling whole cakes, cannolis, so many Italian pastries I’d never seen before, savory goods, drinks, and much more.

We had a pistachio tozzetti, ricotta and spinach torta rustica, and espresso.

The Tozzetti al pistachio (pistachio biscotti) was softer than I imagined (usually biscottis are so hard in nature).

The Torta Rustica Ricotta e Spinaci (ricotta and spinach cake) was so moist and tart despite sitting on the counter for who knows how long. It was a nice substantial savory tart sandwich with lots of ricotta.

Torta Rustica Ricotta e Spinaci. €18/kg

So much selection at Il Fornaio

We arrived at Campo de’ Fiori (Piazza Campo de’ Fiori, 00186 Roma RM, Italy) just as the market was closing but nabbed a nifty vegetable peeler and lemon squeezer.

Campo de’ Fiori market

We stopped into Taba Cafe for a restroom and cappuccino break.

Cappuccino at Taba Cafe

Random fountain we found while strolling towards Tiber Island

Every street was so scenic

We passed by so many historic buildings and fountains on our walk

The trees make the street look so nice

Next, we continued along the route to the south end of Rome towards Isola Tiberina (Tiber Island) and into the area of Trastevere. The bridge crossing over into this idyllic spot was so nice in the mid-afternoon sun.

Crossing the bridge to Tiber Island

Gelato at Tiberino Ristorante Bar

Upon crossing the bridge, we came across a popular gelato shop of Tiberino Ristorante Bar and got a medium cup of three flavours: basil, pistachio, and zuppa inglese (Italian dessert layering custard and sponge cake).

The basil gelato was the best one and so fragrant of basil! The zuppa inglese (made with alcohol) and pistachio were sweet. A bite of the actual pistachio nut gave a good taste to it too.

Three flavours of gelato: basil, pistachio, zuppa inglese

Enjoying gelato while enjoying this view

Piazza di Santa Maria

We sat on the steps of the fountain in the Piazza di Santa Maria in Travestvere for a while and rested. Our dinner wasn’t until 8 p.m. as we had our sights set on trying a “down home cooking kitchen” restaurant called “Augusto” that was eagerly recommended by our BnB host. Since we had time before the restaurant opened, we waited around and studied the streets and restaurant that was making pasta in the window before arriving at the doors of Trattoria da Augusto at 7:15 p.m.

We also were able to partake in a street game (with a donation) to play. The trick was to balance a stick in the air and play with it using two other sticks. The girl who set it up was a pro and was able to do different tricks too.

Exploring Trastevere

Playing with sticks

Another restaurant displaying their freshly made pasta

Dinner at the popular Trattoria da Augusto

Read about our dinner experience at Trattoria da Augusto here.

Piazza Trilussa

After dinner, we checked out Piazza Trilussa where there was a live band playing in front of a crowd.

It was getting late so instead of a 47-minute walk back to the BnB, we hailed a cab easily off of the main street and returned “home” in just 13 minutes.

Tonight is our last sleep in Rome, Italy and soon we will be saying “Ciao” to Pisa, Italy! (In both senses of the word.)

– – –

Read about what we did on all the days of our Eurotrip!