Rome, Italy

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Ahhhh Rome. This was my third trip to this lovely city, and I was thrilled to be here. Originally, I was not going to come here this year, and fly out of another city, but if you ever have a chance to visit Rome, I suggest taking it, for it is worth your time I assure you.

As my time was limited in Rome, I wanted to maximize every opportunity. Most of the things I did, I have done before, but again, it is such a joy to see and be in this wonderful place. This was more of a walk around time for me. Meaning, I didn't take any tours, but just enjoyed the vast historical and beautiful sights.

After my initial arrival at the train station, I make my way to my hotel which is near the Spanish Steps. Now, one of my favorite things to do is people watch, and this is a wonderful place to do this. There have been times I have just grabbed some lunch to go, or had my own, and just sat on the steps, ate, and watched the goings on. So much fun. Actually, to me, this is also very relaxing. I must say, that as the sun sets in this spot on the Spanish Steps, the sight is amazing. I didn't do this on this particular trip, but just reminising from prior occasions.

So with my time limited, I wanted to see and visit much of the ancient sights with vast Roman history, so my first stop was the Trevi Fountain. I mentioned previously, I like to people watch, and the Trevi Fountain is a wonderful place for this. Saying that, this area is one of the top free attractions in Rome, and attracts many people. I think a night or early morning visit is the best to avoid all the tourists, but I like to sometimes bump elbows and get in with the crowds.

A little history about the fountain. Trevi Fountain is in the Trevi district; ("Three Way" or "Three Streets") as an intersection of three ancient Roman roads. From what I read, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world. It was one of the aqueducts that supplied water to Ancient Rome many years ago, and served Rome for some four hundred years. It is said that the Trevi Fountain has the ability to make people fall in love with Rome and meet the Italian love of their life. I am not sure about all of that, but I do think it is a beautiful landmark none the less. There was restoration done to clean up and refurbish around ten years or so ago, and the fountain was restored to look more like it did from ancient times. From my standpoint, it looked amazing.

In the same general area is the Pantheon. I take a stroll to visit here, and this is another must see in Rome. The Pantheon is a former Roman temple, and is built on a site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa durning the reign of Augustus. The building is round in plan except for the large granite columns. Inside there is a central opening or oculus to the sky. It is pretty neat to take a picture looking up and getting this in the background. From what I read, almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. It is one of the best preserved of all ancient Roman buildings, in large part because it has been in continuous use throughout its history. As in other places around historical sites, you will see people dressed in gladiator uniforms willing to have their photo made with you (for a price). Still cool to see and to imagine what it was like so many years ago.

My next stop is the picture of Roman history, and the symbol of Rome, the glorious Colosseum. Now, I have seen the Colosseum a couple of times already, and I have been very fortunate to tour the inside as well as the underneath where the gladiators and animals were, but just to see it with my natural eyes once again is amazing. I walk around and gaze for a while, and take some photos for remberance, and then make my way to see the Forum and Palatine Hill. I haven't spent a lot of time here in the past, and I wanted to really get a feel for and imagine what it was like so many centuries ago.

The Roman Forum's a rectangular forum or plaza separated by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome located in a small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills. The citizens that lived here originally referred to this space as a marketplace or simply the Forum. For centuries the Forum was the center of day-to-day life in Rome. Here statues and monuments commemorated the city's great men. As the heart of Ancient Rome, it has been called the most celebrated meeting place in the world, and in all history. Many of the oldest and most important structures of Rome were located on or near the Forum.

Once I got my fill of walking around the Forum, probably four or five hours in the heat, I decide to go back to a shaded area at the Trevi Fountain. It was getting dark now, and I thought this would be a beautiful place to sit and relax. Now, I have visited and did the coin throwing into the Trevi Fountain on my last occasions here, and this is why I wanted to also go back. If you read about and study this, if you throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain, you will return to Rome some day. Two coins and you will fall in love with a beautiful Italian. Three coins, and you will marry the person you met. Now for me, I threw one coin. The proper way to throw a coin is using the right hand over the left shoulder. Not sure what left handed people are to do, but this is what I was told. So far so good for me, as I have returned now on a couple of occasions. Yes...I threw a coin in again, and I truly hope to visit another day.

Well, I finished all of my sight seeing that I desired to do, and I had my fight in the next day. I will bid Rome adieu until next time. Beautiful city, and I hope to come again some day.

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