La Primavera a Roma: Piazza di Spagna

Piazza di Spagna is one of the most visited places in Rome with its beauty, history, views of the city and world-famous shopping. After two months of passing the famous Spanish Steps everyday, I never once saw the sight that frequents postcards and the prints being sold in Piazza Navona. I had waited almost four months for the azaleas to blanket the steps and brighten the busy piazza.

The Spanish Steps without the spring flowers.

 The signs of spring were everywhere one Friday afternoon in Piazza di Spagna. The warm golden sun beat down on the swarming tourists and the gypsies were selling more irrelevant trinkets than ever before. As I made my way from the Spagna Metro stop to the Spanish Steps, a sea of fluorescent pink and snow white azaleas blanketed the Spanish Steps that had been so bare the week before.

The smell of roasted chestnuts swept across my path as I felt the heat from oven on the corner as I passed by the vendor. All around me I could hear the murmuring of different languages and the high pitched beeps of digital cameras snapping memories of the widest staircase in Europe. Never have I seen the Spanish Steps so crowded before. People were sunbathing on the sunlit parts of the steps and others were posing in front of the floral displays.

The Spanish Steps decorated for spring!

The flowers of the Spanish Steps are a true indicator that spring has arrived in Rome. The bubble gum pink petals mixed with the cotton white buds displayed a floral paradise against a cloudless bright blue sky. The banana yellow sun rested peacefully in the sky above the Trinita dei Monti church at the top of the steps. This was by far the most beautiful representation of spring that I had ever witnessed.