Rome

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Arrived in Rome at dusk. Easy walk to our hotel about 3 blocks away. Dropped our luggage and went for a long evening walk to Trevi Fountain and Pantheon to see how they looked lit up in the evening. The space around the fountain was full even at nine at night! We had a nice dinner at a restaurant in the pizza in front of the Pantheon. The people watching was great!

Next day we walked to the Coliseum.. It was a short walk from the hotel, down little streets and through a beautiful park. We took a guided tour that ended up being very good—informative and bypassed all the lines and only a few dollars more than the entrance fee itself.

In the afternoon we took the second part of our tour, this one with an excellent guide. We toured the Forum and Palatine Hill. About mid afternoon, a strong rain and wind storm developed but it only lasted about an hour and we had our umbrellas. Then the sun came back and we completed our visit.

The next day we toured the Vatican. Heavy crowds and slow walking through the museum. Many rooms, many paintings and other works of art but a little hard to see with the crowds. Sistine Chapel of course was spectacular. St. Peter’s was very large and ostentations.

Then off to the Spanish Steps to eat out pizza and enjoy the sun and crowds. After the pizza on the steps, we wandered the streets enjoying the fountain in the daylight…again large crowds, a gelato on the way to the Pantheon.

We then wandered again until we again found the Spanish Steps and took the Metro back. We got a little lost after our exit off the Metro but found the bread and cheese store from the night before. Several more cheese choices later we returned to our hotel to enjoy the fruits of our labors in the little “garden”.

The next day a brief tour of the famous church next to our hotel, Saint Maria Maggiore, and we were off to Siena!