Isola Tiberina

The Forum………violence was a common sport

Trevi Fountain

Rome was our last stop in Italy and we were so glad to drop off the car as driving in this city means you must  have a death wish!   Jim has done an amazing job of getting us through almost four weeks of driving in Italy without getting a scratch on the car and we are beginning to look forward to the metro.  We spent our first day in Rome checking into our apartment, figuring out the metro, how to find tourismo and the like.   Once we boarded the metro Jim told us we got off at stop #8 so it was quite the surprise at stop #5 when everyone was acting confused after an announcement, in Italian of course, that you need to vacate the subway and shortly thereafter we see guards with guns and everyone running, so we did as well only to find out that everyone was running for the bus as the subway was shutting down for renovation of some sort on this Sunday afternoon.   Obviously what happened in Paris two weeks previously was still on our minds and there was a strong security presence in the subways of Rome that caused a little discomfort.  However it did not stop us from enjoying this wonderful and very busy city.  The pictures tell the story or, in this case, attempt to!   What can you say about Rome except it’s magnificent and overwhelming.   We spent four wonderful days here visiting the Coliseum, the forum, Palatine Hill, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, Borghese Museum, Trastevere, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Jewish Quarters, Isola Tiberina and walked for miles while doing so.  As a result we have had a taste of Rome and there is so much more to see. But it’s been a wonderful start with super accommodation, Gioia House, which is in a great neighborhood in Rome, well-connected to the subway for travelling further afield yet so close to everything you need locally.  We are totally done with the art as it has been overwhelmingly beautiful but one(especially this one) cannot consume so much……….and so we are done for now but as Rick Steeves’ says in his guidebook ‘Rome is never done’.   A few final pictures before we head back to the solitude of Tidnish after another fabulous journey…………….chat later!