Rome - A Historic Destination
The awe-inspiring view of the Colosseum after leaving the subway and onto the street level leaves you breathless at first.
Our Airbnb was centrally located and less than a 10 minute walk to the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps.
Several statues lined the street on our walk from breakfast to the Colosseum. This statue is of Julius Cesar, who was a politician and largely-celebrated general of the late Roman republic due to his military conquests.
We had a guided tour of the Colosseum through Angel Tours that was recommended to me by a friend who had been to Rome earlier in the year and our tour guide was terrific.
For a place that’s one of the most popular tourist attractions in modern-day Rome, one can only imagine the events that took place at the Colosseum close to 2,000 years ago.
A few times during the tour, our guide offered us opportunities to stop for pictures inside the Colosseum. The crowds were large so we had to ensure we didn’t stray too far from where our group was standing.
We toured the Roman Forum after leaving the Colosseum, which our guide mentioned was an ancient public gathering place and a location for religious ceremonies.
Ancient remains of the temples and monuments still remain to this day, some of which are made up of materials that are multiple centuries apart.
Following the tour of the Colosseum and Roman Forum, we had lunch at Gruppo Di Rienzo, which offers a magnificent view of the Pantheon.
We heard that the Spanish Steps were a great place to catch the sunset so we got some gelato from Barcaccia, which is right across the street.
For those who may not know (we did not), eating is not allowed on the Spanish Steps.
The neighborhood around the Spanish Steps has a great selection of local shops and luxury stores to shop from.
Two stores that stood out to us in particular were Asole & Bottoni, and Naracamicie, which both sell high quality dress clothes.
We couldn’t have thought of a better way to end our night than stopping at the renowned Trevi Fountain.
A fun fact about the Trevi Fountain that we learned during our tour of the Colosseum is that it has the only remaining functional aqueduct in all of present-day Rome.
We didn’t toss a coin into the fountain due to the large crowds that were present. The ideal time to go to avoid the crowds would be very early in the morning.
For our last dinner in Rome, we decided to go to Roscioli. Our table was in the wine cellar located in the basement level of the restaurant. The ambience was great, with a wide collection of wine on display for customers to choose from.
