Re visiting, Rome

 On our previous trips, we were like most other tourists, but now we prefer to call ourselves travellers. As tourists, it is more like ticking off bucket list items, but as travellers, it is taking in the sights, not rushing, not having a schedule and travelling like a local. 

Today was just like that. I handed the map (digital on the phone) to Katie and said to plot a course for the day. She wanted to visit the main sights in central Rome but also take the time to learn about them a little more. With the internet in our hands, there is no longer the need to carry large guidebooks, so as we reached each location, a quick google search directed us to a plethora of information.

The first stop was Campo di Fiori, where there was a daily market and an imposing statue. Here we noticed a slightly different market to previous visits. There was slightly less fresh produce and slightly more tourist souvenir items.  We could have also had about a dozen free samples of limoncello, but at 10:30, it was too early, and the salesmen were very pushy. 

Next was Piazza Navona and the three fountains. Again as self-guided, we could spend as long as we wanted in this piazza and learnt much detail about the three fountains' history.

Nasoni fountains, put your finger on the end, and it becomes a drinking bubbler.

Also, many squares have webcams, and I was able to take a screenshot of when we were there.

From here, it was across to the Pantheon, but only after stopping for a snack at the Pastecieria. 5 Lune.

This place has been in operation for over 100 years. It is all Italian but has the best cakes, biscuits and sweet things we have come across. These two items cost only 3.50 euros.  After our little sugar hit, we got into the Pantheon area, which was crowded, and chose to skip the queue and come back another time, so off to the Trevi fountain it was. 

This also was very busy but didn't distract us from the impressive fountain. Again guided by google, we were able to have a refresher on the history of the fountain. 

The Spanish steps were next, but rather than viewing from the bottom like we normally do, we snuck up on them from the top and looked down over Rome. 

Feeling the need to go even higher, we headed to the Borghese Gardens, where we took in the view of the city, saw a young man propose to his girlfriend (she said yes) and then strolled through the gardens and had a coffee and muffin. 

Heading back was simple. We hopped on bus 160 and in 30 min were back at our accommodation. 

The later part of the afternoon was spent resting, watching trashy television (believe it or not, Colombo), and then out for a simple dinner close by.