All roads lead to Rome - a Pink Sneaker Roman Holiday


“All roads lead to Rome” was clearly a fitting and appropriate metaphor for the hustle and bustle that greeted me as I placed my pink-sneakered feet firmly on Roman territory.  Rome was the last stop on my whirlwind Italian adventure and did not disappoint, its stunning architectural legacy visually seeping out of every nook and cranny of this former ancient empire.  From the impressive centuries old Colosseum, St. Peter’s Basilica and The Pantheon - just a fraction of some of the remaining remnants of a once thriving ancient, political and economic powerhouse that ruled much of Europe from the 1st to 4th centuries – to the crumbling and weatherworn stones of generations old trattorias, Roma is an open-air museum showcasing the grandeur of Roman glory and imperialism.



And I had less than two days or 48 hours in which to traverse up and down the Spanish Steps, throw a few coins into the magical sparkling Trevi Fountain and gawk in appreciative wonder at the magnificence of the multitudes of historical heirlooms that the “Eternal City” had to offer.  Yikes!! I clearly was not going to be getting the recommended eight hours of sleep on this last leg of my Italian journey.


“Rome was not built in a day” was the phrase that kept frantically repeating in my mind as I struggled to figure out how to incorporate sightseeing, shopping and savouring delectable Italian cuisine, all in a two day time frame.  How would it be possible to view and photograph the hundreds, if not thousands, of ancient arches, monuments and architectural wonders within a 48 hour period, when it took artistic geniuses at least a couple of centuries to build those same structures?  I wouldn’t be doing them any justice if I just haphazardly sprinted from one monument to another, lingered for a 5 minute photo op, and then scrambled onward towards archeological edifice #55, in my quest to see at least 2,005  ”not to be missed”  ancient ruins? Had I travelled half way across the globe to not see the magnificent wonders of yesteryear?

My vision of languishing in a quaint Italian café, being doted upon by charmingly accented foreign waiters, quickly fell to the wayside as I now had to tweak my itinerary and narrow my sightseeing to a more realistic limit of a maximum three venues.  Traipsing around this bustling metropolis of 2.7 million inhabitants would be a marathon event in itself, as I needed to cover several kilometres of territory in a relatively short space of time.  My best options were to choose the three that were in somewhat close proximity to one another – the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum - as the parameters of distance would be relatively short, therefore permitting me the luxury of devoting several hours at each wondrous edifice.


Thus began my “Roman Holiday” adventure, a pink-sneaker triathlon of sightseeing, shopping and savouring mouth-watering cuisine in magnificent Roma.

 Come traipse along with me as my pink sneakers sprint along the roads and cobblestoned paths of this “Eternal City” in my quest to leave no stone unturned in discovering the ancient Roman ruins…come travel with me...

Next week – Where do my pink-sneakered footprints find themselves?  St. Peter’s Basilica?  The Trevi Fountain? The Colosseum?  The Spanish Steps?  Stay tuned!!

Pink Sneaker Helpful Tidbits of Info:

-       Rome is a bustling metropolis of more than 2.7 million inhabitants and covers an impressive 450 square kilometres.

-       Just as “Rome was not built in a day”, it is practically impossible to see all of the monuments, churches and archaeological heirlooms in just one day.  Plan to spend at least 3 days or more in this fabulous city in order to gain a better appreciation of its majestic grandeur.

-       Did you know that Rome has 913 churches?

-       When booking a hotel, make certain of its proximity to the centre of town.  While our hotel brochure stated that it was located in Rome, it failed to advertise that it was actually located 45 minutes by car in the far-out suburbs.  Quite an extensive commute indeed!

-       Pink Sneakers on the Go recommends one to journey to Rome during the months of May or September, when the weather is cooler and the city is not as congested.  August is sweltering and oftentimes it seems as if all of humanity has descended upon the city.




 

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