Friday, August 12
We set off after breakfast and explored the area where our B&B is located, which is in an un-touristy area. Again we feel like we're "living like the locals", even though we are only about 600 metres from the main railway station! The biggest piazza in Rome is about 50 metres away (Piazza Vittorio Emanuele 2), and one of the famous (but less well known) arches in Rome is about 100 metres away, the Gallieno Arch. The colonnades around the piazza contained some little shops as well as market stalls, and you could tell this is where the locals shop.
We then caught the Metro to check out getting to Ostiense station on Sunday night, which is where we have to catch the train to Civitavecchia. After this trial run we caught the Metro to the Spanish Steps, only to find them closed for renovations! We walked towards Via Veneto, checking out the great clothing and shoe shops that abound in Rome, and stopped for a nice lunch along the way. At the start of Via Veneto is Piazza Barberini, with the lovely Triton Fountain in the middle of it. The Via Veneto area was where we stayed back in 1985, but it has lost a lot of the high end retail shops, however it still has some of the top hotels located there, as well as the US Embassy.
We then focused on some retail therapy, which is easy to do in Rome, and we both scored some items that we were really happy with. Wherever you walk in Rome there is always something interesting to look at, and at Piazza della Repubblica we came across some Army guys with feathers in their hats! There is an Army initiative in Italy (we noticed it in Milan too) called "Safe Streets", with Army personnel visible at all the major tourist sites as well as the piazzas, which is reassuring for us.
On our way home we walked past Santa Maria Maggiore, a majestic church not far from us, and it looked spectacular with the late afternoon sun shining on it.
We set off after breakfast and explored the area where our B&B is located, which is in an un-touristy area. Again we feel like we're "living like the locals", even though we are only about 600 metres from the main railway station! The biggest piazza in Rome is about 50 metres away (Piazza Vittorio Emanuele 2), and one of the famous (but less well known) arches in Rome is about 100 metres away, the Gallieno Arch. The colonnades around the piazza contained some little shops as well as market stalls, and you could tell this is where the locals shop.
We then caught the Metro to check out getting to Ostiense station on Sunday night, which is where we have to catch the train to Civitavecchia. After this trial run we caught the Metro to the Spanish Steps, only to find them closed for renovations! We walked towards Via Veneto, checking out the great clothing and shoe shops that abound in Rome, and stopped for a nice lunch along the way. At the start of Via Veneto is Piazza Barberini, with the lovely Triton Fountain in the middle of it. The Via Veneto area was where we stayed back in 1985, but it has lost a lot of the high end retail shops, however it still has some of the top hotels located there, as well as the US Embassy.
We then focused on some retail therapy, which is easy to do in Rome, and we both scored some items that we were really happy with. Wherever you walk in Rome there is always something interesting to look at, and at Piazza della Repubblica we came across some Army guys with feathers in their hats! There is an Army initiative in Italy (we noticed it in Milan too) called "Safe Streets", with Army personnel visible at all the major tourist sites as well as the piazzas, which is reassuring for us.
On our way home we walked past Santa Maria Maggiore, a majestic church not far from us, and it looked spectacular with the late afternoon sun shining on it.
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