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Friday, April 22, 2016

Rome. Europe visit series Part 4.

We were in Rome at 1 bedroom apartment rented using Airbnb within 5min walk to Trevi Fountain. We had Roma Pass which allowed free access to 2 of the attractions and unlimited access to Metro for the 4 days we were there. We bought Roma pass at Rome airport in the visitor center. The metro bus was all we used in Rome. Google nav worked great for the metro and walking.

On day 1, we visited Vatican which is not covered by Roma Pass. We reserved a time slot at 11:30am. No lines. However, we did not really see many people in the line. Even though we had an appointment, there was no guide. We could hire a private guide, rent the audio guide or walk around. We rented the audio guide. There was no real guided audio tour. You just go to each area, look a number and choose the number on the machine to hear about that area. Not really effective. The layout of the museum takes people through ridiculously long corridors on 3 floors. Hardly any windows and lot of crowds. If there are elevators, we could not find them. After 2hrs we walked out to the Baslica and then into the cathedral. That was so much nicer and well worth seeing. Weather in high 60s was great. Perhaps we should have gone with a tour guide.

That evening we walked to Trevi fountain. It was very impressive but so crowded. Took some photos and spent perhaps 30min during the day and 30min at night with the lights.

https://goo.gl/photos/chPgsQjEz3igwPrj8

Our first use of Roma Pass was to see the Colloseum. We found an excellent guide to see the Colloseum without standing in the line. It was a great tour for about 90 min and later to Palatine hill for 1 hr tour. Well worth it.

https://goo.gl/photos/yDDx1Mqd6KKWg3Xm6

That evening we walked to Spanish steps which is like many Plazas in Rome where people hangout particularly in the evenings. If you are inclined to walk about a bunch of steps, try going down the steps and walk back on gentle slope of the streets.

https://goo.gl/photos/XksoEZZtcD73JCCN6

The next day we did a self guided tour of the Forum next to Colloseum and then visited Piazza Navona (OK if you don't see it) and the Pantheon (surely worth seeing). Rick Steve's audio guide was good enough.

We ended our visit to Rome with a walk in the gardens of Villa Borghese but could not go to the museum because appointment was difficult to get.



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