Both Lee and I slept hard until 4 am, then wide-eyed and bushytailed until 6. Must have fell asleep again as the alarm woke us at 7. Showered and off to the breakfast room at 8;30. Today was supposed to be an easy day for touring so we started off by walking down to the Termini train station to purchase train tickets for a trip to Naples and Pompeii on Thursday. As we were walking up to the station, there is a golden statue is titled “Christ The Redeemer” watching over Rome’s Termini Station. It’s made of gilded bronze and was sculpted in Milan by artist Enrico Canaanite.

  
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Mission accomplished. Bought our tickets from Rome to Naples at 9:05 am and Naples to Rome at 2:00 pm. And because we’re planning on leaving Rome that day for the Tuscany and Venice segments of our vacation, we bought our Rome to Florence tickets at the same time for a 4:05 pm departure.

Our intent today was to experience the Spanish Steps and see the Trevi Fountain in daylight. However, as we were walking over to the Metro to make our way to the stop closest to the Spanish Steps, it started to rain. It never let up for the rest of the day.

The Spanish Steps climb a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church, at the top. The monumental stairway of 135 steps was built from 1723–1725, linking the Trinità dei Monti church at the top of the steps, and the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See in the Palazzo Monaldeschi at the bottom of the steps.

    
    
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In the Piazza di Spagna at the base is the Early Baroque fountain called Fontana della Barcaccia ("Fountain of the longboat") built between 1627–29. According to legend, Pope Urban VIII had the fountain installed after he had been impressed by a boat brought here by a flood of the Tiber.

Located in what is called Piazza Mignanelli, towards the south east part of Piazza di Spagna, the Column of the Immaculate Conception is a nineteenth-century monument depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary.

    
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Rome's most famous fountain, the iconic Fontana di Trevi or Trevi Fountain, is a flamboyant baroque ensemble of mythical figures and wild horses taking up the entire side of the 17th-century Palazzo Poli.

      
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Thoroughly soaked after experiencing the Steps and the Fountain, we made our way back to our hotel to dry out and have a before-dinner cocktail.

    
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After a quiet dinner at a café close to the hotel, we went back to our rooms and got some needed sleep.