Rome Hop On - Hop Off Bus

Today was a day for exploring Rome using the Hop On - Hop Off Bus service. We find this a good option as we learn about the various sights but are able to get off at any time to explore an area that interests us.

Unfortunately because we had no internet in our room in Rome I have got behind with the blog and can't remember what some of them are.

We decided to walk back to the train station to work out how long it would take us. Not surprisingly it only to about 15 minutes and that was walking uphill. We had to wait a while for the bus but that was okay because it meant we got a seat up the top.

On the bus we passed through the beautiful  Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore with it's stunning church. The streets are narrow but somehow everyone seems to know what they are dong on the road and there is less frustration from the drivers than I expected.







As you can imagine, everything is old and ornate. Such a contrast to Abu Dhabi.


Next major stop was the Colosseum but for obvious reasons we did not get off here. We plan to do a guided tour when we come back to Rome.

From there we travelled around the Palantino which is where all the historical archaeological site are and where they held the chariot races.

Next we followed the Tiber river and looked across to St Peter's Basilica where there hundreds of people crossing over the river to visit it. There were more beautiful buildings and I thought this one was particularly pretty. It would be really good if I could remember what it was.


Our next stop was the Trevi Fountain. If I thought that the other destinations were crowded it was no comparison to this. It was a bit ridiculous really, but like all the other tourists we want our photo in front of it and throw our coins in into the fountain to ensure we would return to Rome one day.

We were a bit stunned by the amount of people at the fountain. You kind of had to push you way through to get down to the water to throw your coin in. They must make an absolute fortune from it

Next we found a little cafe to have lunch at although this is not a difficult thing to do in Rome. There are restaurants and cafes everywhere.

Lunch was lovely and after that we ventured off to to find the Spanish steps. Again the amount of people is ridiculous and I don't even think this is the high seasons yet.


The Spanish steps were built to link the church above to the square below. There are 138 steps although I thought Terry counted more than that. The climb to the top is worth it as the from the top is pretty good.


On the way back down everyone was filling their drink bottles from the fountain at the bottom of the stairs. The Romans say tat their water is perfect to drink but I'm not sure I wold give it a taste from this fountain. Terry found it pretty good to cool off in though.

That was our last stop for the bus and we made our way back to the hotel.

After dinner we went for another walk being a little more adventurous and walking a little further than last night. We wandered around checking out more of the buskers.We both thought this one was pretty funny, although not original as there was another one on the opposite side of the street

One of the funniest things we saw was how the Romans think outside the square or should I say the parking space.
There was obviously no spaces left for this car so the made one of their own by parking like this. I guess that's the benefit of having a small car









Another great and we decided to head to Sorrento a day earlier than originally so this will test of public transport capabilities.