(Knights of Malta) and the famous keyhole in the wooden door. If you peer through this keyhole, you

I rarely, if ever, blog about anything other than my life in Venice. Today is different. I'm writing about our recent weekend in Rome. I've been to Rome before. Several times. I've done all the touristy spots- the Colosseum, the Trevi fountain, the Pantheon, the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, the Roman Forum, the Spanish steps, and more.
This trip was different, a very special experience. I had been invited along with a small group of bloggers to be the guest of the Baglioni Hotels for a weekend at their hotel in Rome, the Regina cheap sports tickets Baglioni , to participate in a special 2 day package they offer, The Great Beauty Experience , in celebration of the recent Oscar winning film, La Grande Bellezza. How lucky can I be?
La Grande Bellezza, cheap sports tickets a film by Paolo Sorrention, starring Toni Servillo as Jeb Gambardella, showcases well known locations around Rome, in addition to a few that are off the tourist radar. In many ways, the city has a starring role in the movie. Baglioni's cheap sports tickets 2 day experience includes a special tour featuring many of the locations featured cheap sports tickets in the film.
We made the short walk from Piazza Navona to Campo dei Fiori, then to Palazzo Farnese, cheap sports tickets the current home of the French cheap sports tickets Embassy, and on to Palazzo Spada. Inside Palazzo Spada we got to see the corridor, a famous optical illusion designed by Francesco Borromini, up close. Until you see it close up it's almost impossible to believe that what appears to be a life size statue at the end of the corridor is only 60 cm high in reality.
Back in the car, our next stop was up on Aventine cheap sports tickets Hill where we visited the scowling face fountain of Giacomo Della Porta, located near Via di Santa Sabina. In the movie, Jeb stops here at the fountain to wash off his face after a long night of partying Roman-style.
cheap sports tickets Just beyond the fountain is the Giardini degli Aranci at Parco Savello. From the garden you have a grand vista over the rooftops and domes of Venice. This view is simply spectacular. I can understand why this garden is a favorite spot of romantics.
(Knights of Malta) and the famous keyhole in the wooden door. If you peer through this keyhole, you can see St. Peter's Basilica framed by the trees in the garden. My photo doesn't do this view justice. You just have to come see for yourself. Better yet, take the tour.
The Tempietto San Pietro in Montorio, said to be the site of the martyrdom of St. Peter, is the location of a wonderful scene in the movie. A mother searches for her lost daughter, who is hiding on the lower level of the Tempietto, and can be seen through the hole in the mosaic floor (see photo below.).
Gianicolo hill (Janiculum, in English), said to be Rome's eighth hill, has lots to see and beautiful overlooks cheap sports tickets of the city from several spots. The Fontana dell'Acqua Paolo, one of Rome's cheap sports tickets largest fountains, also called il Fontanone- the big fountain- was built in 1612 to mark the end of the Acqua Paolo acqueduct, which was restored by Pope Paul V, after whom the fountain is named. One of the film's early scenes is shot at this fountain.
A short walk from the fountain is the canon at Gianicolo hill. The canon is the very first scene in La Grande Bellezza. Because the canon is fired daily at noon, we chose to save this location for later in the tour rather than begin here, so we could be there when it was fired off. If you do the same, remember that the canon is very loud when it goes off!
Following the gourmet meal prepared for us by the chef, we continued the second portion of our day long excursion. Next stop, Terme di Caravalla, or the Baths of Caravalla. The baths, built between 212-216 Ad during the reign of Emperor Caravalla are the second largest public baths in Rome. For me, the baths were one of the highlights of the day. I would love to return to explore inside.
Clearly the most breathtaking sight for me was our visit to the Roman Acqueduct. Said to be one of the greatest achievements of the ancient world, I was awestruck standing along side it, in absolute amazement at the sheer scope of this massive waterway, and the ingenuity it must have taken to build it. This portion of the acqueducts near the Appian Way was built in 312 BC,and was part of the complex waterway that carried water into the city of Rome.
The tour wouldn't have been complete without a drive-by of the Colosseum. This is the view from the rooftop terrace cheap sports tickets of the apartment cheap sports tickets used by Jeb in the film. Who wouldn't want this view while having morning coffee on the terrace?
We had one last stop to cap off our incredible Great Beauty tour, and that was to catch the view from the Penthouse suite of the Regina Baglioni. In the movie, there is a fantastic party scene on a rooftop deck in Rome just overlooking this famous Martini sign. See the movie, you'll know just where we were at.
Stefano, driver extraordinare, cheap sports tickets managed to maneuver us in, through, and around Rome's traffic laden streets all day with efficiency and good humor, getting us to exactly where we needed to be, when we needed to be there.