The Nooks and Crannies of the Eternal City: Rome, Italy

We spent our time in Rome on foot, and oh boy, by day three we were feeling the 'rewards'. 

Strolling through twisty and tiny streets in any city is terrible on the feet, but lovely on the eyes, especially in Rome. 

With every turn of every corner, I found beauty in this city. I didn't have to visit a top tourist attraction to appreciate her. 
Some of my favorite things in Rome are places not highlighted on any maps...

*You'll notice day four is missing. We were in Florence on day four and that post will be coming real soon. Promise.

Day One
Our wonderful driver picked us up from the FCO airport and dropped us off right at the front door of our apartment building in the heart of Rome; located just a couple of blocks from the Pantheon. We arrived around 2pm and because the sun didn't set until 9pm, we had ample time to explore before hitting the hay. I'd say that's nearly a full day's worth the exploring!

We weren't able to hit everything on my loose itinerary list for that day, but we did see the majority of what I had planned to. The remaining sites that we missed came later during the week.

Big places we saw on Day One:

• Pantheon
• Piazza Navona
• Trevi Fountain (day and night)
• Castel Sant'Angelo
• Ponte Umberto II
• Ponte Sant'Angelo

All of the photos below are everything in between attractions that I feel are worth sharing. I have a gazillion photos I could upload, but I picked out my favorite places and put them in here. This entire post is meant to highlight the things that don't often (if at all) pop up in an image search of Rome. 

Madama Palace-Former Medici Palace

I can't for the life of me remember where this was (somewhere between Pantheon and Trevi Fountain), but it's a neat little piazza with a one-of-a-kind curved building.

Il Tempio di Adrino- A super old Roman temple in the heart of the city. The building now functions as some kind of conference center, but the original Corinthian pillars on the outside make you forget about whatever is modern within the interior walls.

Our first gelato stop in Rome! First of many....

I stopped to snap a picture of this adorable pizza joint off of a quiet side street. Little did I know we would decided to turn around and eat our first dinner in Rome at this place.

This was my absolute favorite little nook of Rome. It was around the corner from our apartment. There's nothing 'special' about it, except that I just loved it. Reminded me of Venice, Italy. The name: Plazza Della Pigna

Pantheon by light of the moon (yep, that little white speck is the moon).

St Peter's Basilica (dome) seen via Ponte Umberto II bridge.

Ponte Sant'Angelo

Castel Sant'Angelo

Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II

Ponte Sant'Angelo- I couldn't get enough of this bridge, obviously! Two of these angels were designed by Bernini, so of course I gawked for awhile. The angels of his currently on the bridge are replicas, hence why I said "designed".

Day Two

Day two was the hottest day of our Rome visit. Luckily for us, the temperature progressively dropped throughout our trip.

We started the morning by heading to the Colosseum, but we took our time getting there. In the late afternoon we had to be at Galleria Borghese by 5pm for our entry time. We had plenty of time to explore between visiting the Colosseum and the galleria, and all on foot!

What we visited on this day:

• Capitol Hill
• Colosseum
• Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore
• Villa Borghese
• Galleria Borghese

Walking up the capitol building steps.

Capitoline Hill

Walking up the road toward the Spanish Steps to reach Villa Borghese.

Altare della Patria

Small cluster of ruins on the side of Altare della Patria

Day Three

Day three had the possibility of a visit to the Forum, only if needed, and it was.

We headed to the Forum (because the Colo/Forum ticket is a 2 consecutive day ticket, and we skipped the forum the day before, yet visited the Colosseum). 

Before our hot Roman Forum excursion for the day, we were thinking about riding the train or bus to Tivoli; a small city on the outskirts of Rome. But after finishing the Forum, we said "Forget it."

We weren't tired-ish, but the beating sun can take away your will to live. 

I had to rework all of our day plans because of skipping out on Tivoli, but it worked out quite nice. We were able to hit up a few places that we didn't have time for before. There's always next time for Tivoli. Hey, you can't do everything, and because of that, I have a reason to return.

Day Three Visits:

• Roman Forum
• Galleria Doria Pamphilj
• Basilica di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva
• Pantheon, again
• Largo di Torre Argentina
• Campo de' Fiori
• Altare della Patria/Terrazza delle Quadrighe

A hidden arcade in Rome! For those who are not architecturally savvy, arcades are passage ways, from one road to another. In other words, short cuts that are generally pretty to look at. Many Euro cities have them, but I didn't think any existed in Rome.

Random Gothic building. Reminds me of apartments in Barcelona.

This was at the intersection of our apartment rental.

I have been eating gelato since the second day we arrived in Germany! I wouldn't say I am a gelato expert, but for the most part, gelato is pretty darn good anywhere you go in Europe (we've ate it in just about every city and country we have visited).
However, gelato in Italy wins, hands down.
I can't even begin to describe why, but eating gelato in Italy will change your life. I LOVE cantaloupe and they actually had cantaloupe flavor gelato!
It was amazing.

Random ruins near some apartments. Not found on a tourist map.

Pope swag anyone? Yes, this is a souvenir shop, and it sells all things Papal related. Just in case you require to look like a pontiff.

The entry to our apartment.

Day Five

Day five was our last day in Italy. Boo. Hiss.

I didn't want to leave, but I was ready to start another adventure in France.

We spent our morning bumming around, and eventually we began to make our way to Vatican City. I had timed entry tickets for 1:30pm, so we weren't in any rush. 

Rome's Supreme Court building

A vendor selling vintage junk along the river.

My husband and kids photobombing the tourist and street performers.

While waiting for our Vatican Museum entry time we walked along the city's walls. And we saw some nuns...

Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II

Altare della Patria by night

Foro di Cesare - Viaggio nei Fori

Foro di Cesare

Capitoline Hill lit up for France; one day after the horrific events that unfolded during the Bastille Day celebration in Nice. 

And there you have it, the little extras of Rome!

Honestly, Rome is a beautiful city to wander. I was able to find something new whenever we walked down a familiar road. There really is a lot to take in!

The Eternal City is big, and most everyone knows that big cities generate a certain amount of...um...dirtiness? 
Yes, you will see trash in the busy areas, but what I really admired is that EVERY day we were there, we noticed city workers out and about; cleaning, maintaining. That was a first! 
It still makes me irked, in a sense. Locals and visitors should be throwing their own trash away, in any city...

There was a time when we debated driving to Rome, but would've planned to stay in the outskirts to avoid traffic and driving in the city. 
I am SO glad we didn't go with that plan. 
Granted driving from Germany would have allowed us to see much more of Italy than Rome and Florence, but staying on the outskirts wouldn't have been the same and there are little parking options within Rome's fortified walls, anyway. 
No way would I have been able to book the same accommodations with a car.

I loved walking out of our apartment in the heart of this bustling city and feeling as if in some way we belonged there. Everything was at our fingertips; restaurants, shopping, groceries, even laundromats. The best part was being able to see the streets during the evenings without having to worry about missing the last train for the night. I truly believe we would've missed many of the nooks and crannies of Rome had we stayed out of the city walls. 

I only have two more posts pertaining to our Italian adventures! 

Next post, I'll be changing up the scenery: 
Florence, Tuscany, Italy

*A couple of people have asked when my post about our final costs/apartment names/flights/ will go up. I'm not sure. Maybe between Rome and Nice, or possibly following Nice, BUT I will tell you, every receipt was saved and the exact and final sum of our trip has been totaled! That post is in the near future, I haven't forgot :-)