Today, we had no scheduled daytime events, which was nice, because the whole group was ready to sleep in to recover somewhat from lots of hours walking and on our feet.  After a leisurely breakfast, a bunch of us walked to the Spanish Steps.  On the way we stopped at a spectacular church - Santo Marie de Populo located in the Piazza de Popolo - the gate and plaza the represented the entrance to the city of Rome from the north in ancient times.  The church is significant because the death of Nero happened essentially on that spot, and for those Dan Brown fans, the church holds the first clue in Angels and Demons.  Spectacular on the inside with significant works of art.  The road from there to the Spanish Steps houses some of the finer shops of Rome including Tiffany's Armani, and Chopard.  The Spanish Steps have been the meeting place of foreign visitors for many years, and today, under bright cool sunny skies was no different.  We had no choice but to hike to the top for some great scenes and a visit to the Church Trinita Dei Monti.  After a walk back to the hotel and a quick break ,we headed off to Castel Sant Angelo, originally a tomb from the second century, turned into a papal fortress for protection of the Popes under siege.  This is an impressive structure - also part of the Angels and Demons story - who's inner papal chambers are well preserved.  I am pretty sure it was almost impregnable to the many sieges of ancient times.  Tomorrow we leave early for Assisi.