There is no way for me to travel through Italy without stopping in Rome, even if it’s just for a day. So, while plotting out this year’s trip abroad, I decided to make Firenze (Florence) my base and take day trips via TrainItalia to Rome, Venice, Pisa and hopefully Verona (will see how that goes).
We took an early morning train (7:00 a.m .to be precise ) from Firenze S.M.N. station and arrived in Roma Termini within 2 hours. Upon our arrival we wasted no time taking our walking tour of the city. The point to remember is that, the suggested independent walking tour is not recommended for a first time visit to Rome, it’s just intended for people like me who have been to Rome a dozen times but just can’t get enough 🙂
So, in our case, we started the walking tour with:
a stop at Vittorio Emanuele II Monument to pay our respects to the tomb of the unknown soldier
then we walked down the steps from Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore – which is located directly next to the Monument
and right next to those steps, we climbed the steps leading to the Capitolini Hill Museums
to get a glimpse of the Forum located directly behind the museums
we rested in the shade just long enough to drink water and down a bag of peanut M&Ms, and then headed to Piazza Navona, a place very dear to my heart
near Piazza Navona we had the best fresh fruit gelato popsicles 4Euros can buy. Well I had three 😉
from Navona we hop skipped over to the Forum and hid inside from the noon heat and muggy weather
after a good rest inside the Forum, we walked through a cobblestone alleyway to the Trevi Fountain and ended up standing underneath umbrellas while we waited out the ten minute downpour.
lunch in a near by restaurant to rest our weary feet and refuel our souls
then on to the spanish steps and a brisk walk through the neighboring streets adorned with designer boutiques. Oh how I love this neighborhood
after an espresso and a biscotti, we climbed the Spanish steps to find Villa Borghese and Villa Medici and the surrounding gardens.
by seven in the evening we trekked back to the train station while passing by the Colosseum – best time to see it is at dusk
The entire trip took us twelve hours on foot, with an hour break for lunch and one hour rest break at the Spanish Steps. The train ride back to Florence was priceless since we napped the entire time :). Tomorrow Venice – see you then
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Beautiful pictures!!!! I’m drooling. I never managed to get a good one of the Trevi fountain with all those pesky tourists around ;P
Hi Autumn – Miss you already – Yeah I am having a blast. 🙂