Rome In A Day

My second day in Rome started out early. I was the first one to get up and I prepared for the day ahead. Breakfast started at 7am in a nearby cafe. I plotted out my itinerary for the day.

There's a heart in my coffee.

I cannot get lost.

I cannot make mistakes. 

I do not have the time to get lost or to make mistakes.

I headed off to Termini Station to ride the metro. I still wanted to use the metro instead of the bus system as my primary mode of transportation. Luck wasn’t on my side. There was a rally that day and the metro was closed. Phoooey. A lot of tourists were also disappointed. 

My next option, was to walk, walk and walk to get to those spots. Under the sun. For one whole day. I briefly considered to sign up for a tour or a hop-on hop-off bus but I immediately dismissed the idea. I didn’t like the idea of having a stone-set itinerary, even though I had limited time in Rome. 

Rallies. Boooo.

The nearest tourist spot is Piazza di Spagna or The Spanish Steps. This is near the Spagna metro station – three metro stations away from Termini. And I mean awaaaaaaaay. I wasn’t alone in conquering Rome on foot. Lots of tourists are also walking with their Rome maps – like me. I also got to see shops that I wouldn't have seen if I rode the metro.

Classy McDonald's

The Spanish Steps. Not a lot to see here. Just here for photo-ops.

Bad posing. I look so stiff.

View at the top

Had a chit chat with a local who took this photo. He said rallies were quite common in Rome.

It was a long and hot walk to Piazza del Popolo. This is near Flaminio station of the metro - just one metro station away from Spagna.

A sunny day in Rome. The weather is both a blessing and a curse.

There was a church nearby where the Angels and Demons movie was shot. I didn't have the energy to find it. There were a couple of other spots in the map but I decided to skip those because walking was very tiring already. The places are really scattered all over. 

I headed just to Fontana di Trevi. People are swarming the place. I think they close the fountain at times to the crowd.

While waiting, I decided to have lunch already. That coffee and croissant that I had at breakfast was completely burned from all that walking. I had this meal for €8. The fries were slightly undercooked though.

There is traditional legend that if you throw a coin in Trevi Fountain, you are guaranteed to return to Rome. I threw a couple of coins. 

Sorry, but the fountain wasn't really that spectacular for me. I think the crowd took away the charm of the place.

Next stop: The Pantheon. Good thing it was just a short walk from the Trevi Fountain.

The standard picture

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh.

 The Rotunda outside the Pantheon.

 Kalesa, Italian version.

My ride. Yeah right.

From the Panteon, it was another short walk going to  Piazza Navona. This is one of the sites in the movie Angels and Demons where the body of a priest was dumped.

The body was dumped in this fountain.

This is one lousy shot - construction site at the left, and a passerby at the right. Of course, I went to a different spot to have my photo taken again.

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This was the last stop in my Rome-in-a-day plan. I could go back for the other places I skipped in the map but I figured that I had enough for the day. I wanted to explore the ruins while I had the time. I traced my footsteps going back to the Colosseum.

Crowd crowd crowd

Passed by this not so ancient building, just because it was in the map.

Outside the Ministry of Culture and Heritage

Overall, these sights were historic in their own right. Perhaps I just didn't feel any magic in any of the place I visited. I visited the Colosseum the day before so this set a high bar for all the sights in Rome.