Rome Sightseeing

Sculpture outside the Capitoline Museum

Exploring Rome

Surprisingly, Rome is an easy city to see on foot.  The old city, contained within the walls, can be walked from end to end in about an hour.  In the four days we were there we never felt the need to take a taxi or use public transportation.  We like to walk when we can.  It places us within, rather than looking at, the scenes we view and allows us to travel at a pace where we can really observe what is around us.  Of course an excellent reason to walk around Rome is so you can stop here and there for a coffee or a gelato.  And, even better, it's guilt free gelato after all that walking!

The big sites of Rome are evident, but it's the little details that add so much to experiencing the city.

Legend is that Rome was founded by brothers Romulus and Remus,
two orphaned twin brothers raised by a she-wolf.  

Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona - Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Four Rivers Fountain with the church of St. Agnes in the background.

The Victor Emmanuel Monument was built in honor of Italy's first king
and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the country's unification in 1870.

The Pantheon was originally built in 27 A.D. (reconstructed in 120 A.D.) as a temple to all the gods.
The 40 foot high columns are made from single pieces of solid granite taken from an Egyptian temple.
The dome is a perfect 142 high and wide with the base being 23 feet thick and gradually reducing to 5 feet at the top.
It served at the model for future domes such as St. Peters.

Rome has more sights to see than the ancient ones. 

The daily morning market at Campo de' Fiori

If we were zipping by in a taxi we'd never get this pretty photo.

The Trevi Fountain - legend has it that if you throw pennies over your shoulder
and into the fountain, you will return to Rome.  Probably better odds on the Trevi than the lotto!