Europe Trip: It's time for Roma

Well, I made it to Rome. Of course the first thing you need to do is to do the tourist walk. So I got on the metro (be very careful of pickpockets on the metro. Don't be shy about pushing people away, especially if you are being crowded needlessly, Twice I found guys groping for my wallet) and took it to Piazza de Popolo which is at the base of the Borghesi gardens. It's called the tourist walk because it's only about 2 miles long and it covers every major tourist attraction. The Piazza where you start with was made very famous by the Dan Brown movies. That was the site of several of his priest killings.

Note, I am finding fellow travelers to swap picture taking duties with so I can prove that I am here.

One of the exhibits that you really shouldn't miss is right in the Piazza in one of the churches at the entrance to the Bourgasi Gardens. It is the da Vinci historical exhibit. They have lots of his original workpapers from all the research that he did. It's fascinating.

A little know fact is that da Vinci was disleptic and all of his research papers, all he wrote, is in a mirror image, which means to us mere mortals, we can only read it by looking at it in a mirror. It is perfectly written, just as if it was a negative reversed photocopy.

It is in this church that has the permanent da Vinci exhibit, also the scene for a murder in "Angels and Demons".

The dual churches at the end of the piazza are the entrance to Roma. The piazza itself is just inside the ancient roman walls that we the protection for the city.

From this famous piazza you as you walk through the streets the first tourist stop is the Spanish steps. I'm not really sure the history of the Spanish steps just that everybody from Rome goes there. As you can see in this picture.

I think there was an open spot on the 7th row up on the right, but it was crazy crowded, all the way to the top. There was obviously some tourist attraction, or cultural significance I'm missing. I never really liked this location.

The next spot you come to is the Trevi Fountain. This I do like, as it does something. They are beautiful statues, and it spouts water. There are still, 50,000 tourists, but I accept that to see the sculptures and to throw my coin in the hopes to return again.

From here there are lots of choices but almost all of them will lead you to the Forum walk and the Colosseum.

The buildings everywhere you look are amazing. from 2000 year ago excavations going on now (look at the very ancient apartment buildings in the background)

To more modern marble edifices, like the buildings surrounding the piazza veniza.

The buildings everywhere you look are amazing. from 2000 year ago excavations going on now

Every where you turn, there is another building, another street that just beckons you to explore to find another building even more elaborate or of an era you hadn't seen before. or even better a private Piazza in the center of a building with statuary and a fountain, for the residents for the past 2000 years.