A look back at Rome...

Rome was a magnificent city and so much bigger than Florence. Our apartment in Rome was about 15 minutes by metro from the city center in an area where we were probably the only two tourists. The apartment was spacious – especially when compared to our Florence studio.
On our first night there we took the bus into town in our hunt for the Trevi Fountains. The fountain is a spectacular sight – how did such a huge fountain end up in such crammed quarters? Although it’s supposed to be ‘shoulder’ traveling season, the large quantities of visitors crammed into the Trevi Fountain never really allowed for a very comfortable or enjoyable stroll around it.
On our second or third day we took a walking tour of Ancient Rome. Our tour guide, a Roman archaeologist named Valentina, was really fantastic. We (re)learned interesting facts about the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, and Piazza Navona. It’s difficult to explain with words the impressions that such places make. We walked on the Via Sacra which is about 2000 years old and was the main road of the Roman Forum. We climbed to the top of the Palatine Hill to see the ‘birthplace’ of Rome. I can’t bother with the historical details and would do no justice in attempting to share them with you – I’ll leave Ian with that task.