As soon as I saw this statue mentioned in Rick Steve’s Italy guide book I knew I had to see it for myself. It was a small church right on the corner and funny thing is, we passed it walking to the Pantheon last night and didn’t even know it because it was hidden behind banners and scaffolds. This church was call Saint Theresa della Vittoria and housed Bernini’s statue, St. Teresa in Ecstasy. I was glad to have finally seen this and marvel at how Bernini did his job during his period as well.Beautiful work of artThen we headed a back way towards the Spanish Steps, which is one of Rome’s other iconic sights, other than that it is just a big gathering spot for everyone taking a break between their shopping tours. This is the center of the “Shopping Triangle” which contains Rome’s highest concentration of upscale boutiques and fashion stores. ( I was walking by the Gucci store and only so many people are allowed in at a time, otherwise you wait outside in the hot heat for your turn, so no window shopping here! They mean business down these streets). After stopping to fill up our water bottles at the fountain and getting something to eat, we headed to go see the Pantheon during the day time.Look how many people were on that one street! All designer stores on that streetThe fountainLooking down on the Spanish stepsI wish all museums or churches were this easy to enter, but since its probably because of its huge vastness its easy to have people to enter and exit and not notice much of a difference. No need to stand in lines here people, the Pantheon is free, no bag checks, and no security. Just walk in through the great big doors and wait for your jaw to drop. This dome is as big as it is wide, actually, its equally the length as it is the height, 142 feet, cool huh? Raphael was asked to be buried here after he died and to the left of the altar underneath Mary and child is his tomb. Can you believe, this is the only church that has been actively a church its whole life? Also, the building is sunken below the current street level, which shows the rise of the city in the past 20 centuries. Way cool, this was the dome that everyone modeled after and tried to copy, it was the biggest until the Renaissance (St. Peter’s is higher).Underneath the domeRaphael’s tombInside the PantheonJust a cool picture I got from the circle at the top of the domeOutside the PantheonMy final goodbye to Rome:The Colosseum at night

Last day in Roma :( Ciao bella

1 hour out of a 12 hour day (Happy 4th America!!!)

Vatican City oh what big walls you have