First full day in Rome - fantastic sightseeing

Today we decided that we would do a Hop on Hop off bus tour of the city sites, much as we had done in Dublin and Edinburgh. So we set off by bus to the Metro Station, and then Metro to Termini, where we exited and walked to the Piazza della Repubblica as this is where the hop on hop off buses ply their trade. We chose one that also included a river tour, more expensive but I though that this would give us a better overview of ancient Rome.

Our initial intention was to do the "circuit" to get the lie of the land, but then decided to get off at one of the stops to do the river cruise. The audio on the bus up to that stage was excellent and full of great information describing the sites and giving us the historic details about each of them as we came up to it.

We only had to wait about 10 minutes after a walk down the 50 or so steps to the river. The boat trip is a circuit of the Tiber River in the original part of the city that existed in Roman times. To me this river symbolises the birth of the Roman Empire. This was a most enjoyable and relaxing cruise after the hustle and bustle of the city on the bus. The audio on the boat was also excellent and continued giving the history of the buildings beside the river and the bridges that crossed the river.

St Peter's Basilica in the background, taken on the boat cruise

There are a lot of steps to get up from the river to street level, this ensures that there are no flood issues in the city during heavy rain fall. That is Win just about at the top of the steps













After the cruise we found a spot for lunch and had a traditional Italian Pizza and glass of red wine for lunch - when in Rome...

After lunch we walked to the square outside of St Peters Basilica. Looking at the queue to get into the Basilica we gave this a miss, and decided that we would come back early tomorrow.

So back onto the tour bus and around to Trevi Fountain, how about that, I always thought that it was in the middle of a piazza, but no it is not it is up against a wall, still spectacular nevertheless, and as usual hoards of tourists vying for positions to get a shot of the fountain and themselves and all in their party in that shot.

Trevi Fountain taken by Win, she is getting very professional now



Why is it called the Trevi Fountain? As it is (was) a fountain at the junction of three roads (tre vie) and marks the end point of an Aquaduct which was a Roman tradition [to mark the end point with a fountain]


Back on the tour bus, and at this time of the day it was taking an eternity to get around the city and back to the Termini stop. At this point we called it a day and took the metro and bus back to our Hotel.