,
“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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