Being accustomed to staying in hostels for the last few months, it was nice to be able to spread out all my belongings as much as possible in our little apartment. The fact that I made a mess of the place didn’t matter too much as we never spent more than a few minutes inside. With the Spanish Steps right down the street, it was easy to kill what downtime we had watching the scene unfold: friends catching up, lovers laying in each other’s laps, the constant stream of picture takers, rose-sellers doing their best to convince men to buy roses for their companion, vendors unsuccessfully selling squishy head toys, and the rogue police officer chasing them all away.
Rome has something historical or monumental around every corner. Somehow, you kind of get used to it; so by the 7th or 8th time we passed the Pantheon, we really didn’t stop to admire the 2000 year old domed structure that inspired so many great artists and architects. We had more important business to handle anyway, there was a famous gelateria hiding somewhere in the area.
Exploring Roman sights at night provides a whole new scene and experience than what can be seen during the day. One of our hotspots was the Trevi Fountain, seen in the photo. A coin toss over our shoulders into the fountain ensured that we will all one day return to Rome again, hopefully sooner rather than later…