Second Day In Rome

30 June 2012 - Early morning to see some of the sights before other tourists, we visited the Trevi fountain, which is stunning, no I didn't through any money in, I need it for my holiday!

Trevi Fountain

Then the Spanish Steps but on the way I was annoyed that I broke the heel off my silver and pewter sandals.  Pit stop at the hotel to change treads.  Bought almost the same shoe while in Rome, so all good, made it to the Spanish Steps by 7:00am, so hence very few tourists around.

Spanish Steps

Breakfast back in the hotel and then off for the days exploring.  First stop the Pantheon, side trip on the way to Augustus' Mausoleum,

Augustus' Mausoleum

if you want to know more click on this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum_of_Augustus, and then across the road is the temple Ara Pacis,  http://www.ara-pacis-museum.com/.  

Images from the Ara Pacis

Continuing on we saw Piazza Novona and Palazzo Madama, finally reaching the Pantheon along with many other people, but this does not distract from the beauty and serenity one experiences, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome.

Inside the Pantheon

From here we head towards the Colosseum or in Italian, Colosseo, we walked past the Museo Centrale del Risorgimento which houses military items and art exhibitions.  After a pit stop we walked to the Arco del Tito at the entrance of the Roman Forum, Colosseum, Arco di Constantino and the Palatino.  Having a Roma Pass entitled us to two museums which we used it for the Museo Nationale Romano, the day before and for the Colosseum, which meant we could skip the queues and take the Roma Pass gate instead.  We often paid the extra to skip the queue because we are here to see the sights, not to stand in a queue for hours.  We paid for the audio guide and explored the Colosseum, what a building!  It would have been better if we had got on one of the tours which took you up higher in the building and also on the new floor and underneath. 

Colosseum Exterior

Interior of the Colosseum

Trevor and I explored the Palatine Hill for some time until it was 4:00pm, when I left him to do some clothes shopping.  

Exploring Palatine Hill

My plans was to buy one expensive drop dead outfit but since I had wrecked two summer shirts and a pair of shoes, I needed to find replacements for them first.  Barberini was my starting point for the shopping, I bought two shirts, two dresses, a skirt and a pair of shoes, so hence no expensive designer label stuff, but the clothes were made in Italy.  Before dinner, another trip to the Spanish Steps were in order.