Running Around Rome
One of the great joys in life is living in the moment; scrapping your well honed plans when a serendipitous opportunity comes your way. I was fortunate to have one such evening delight me not long ago, at the end of a wonderful trip to the Amalfi Coast. I had been traveling with my husband in southern Italy and as part of our complex multi-legged journey home, we needed to get to Rome for an early morning flight out.
As we’d both been to Rome several times, our intent was to take an afternoon train and arrive in the city in time for a relaxed dinner. We chose a hotel near the station expecting to simply eat and get to bed. But that was before we got a glimpse of the sky…
We arrived at our hotel at 7pm. It was tempting to just chill and find a nice spot for dinner. But the gorgeous mix of blue sky and cottony clouds was calling to me and I quickly became obsessed with the notion that the sun wasn’t going to be setting for another two hours and I had a new camera with me that I hadn’t traveled there with before. This was a serendipitous opportunity. Dinner could be eaten at any time, but two hours of sunlight in a city like Rome… that was a privilege not to be squandered.
A quick consult with Mr. Designthusiasm revealed he was up for the challenge. We were located quite far from any of the wonders of Rome and had a mere two hours to visit as much as possible. So without wasting any time, we were out the door and grabbed a taxi. Given the time constraint, the Vatican was out of the question, so we decided to hit the sights in order of importance and for me that meant heading straight to Trevi Fountain. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, it still takes my breath away. (One can say that about many things in Italy.)
This endeavor was destined to defy logic from the start, so we criss-crossed the city following no particular course other than what we wanted to see next and left room to allow ordinary sights to delight us.
When we reached the Colosseum, the early evening sky was extraordinary, providing a compelling backdrop for this imposing and spectacular structure.
There would be no time to enter on this whirlwind tour, and in fact it was already closed to visitors, but the views from the outside offered exceptional photo ops.
We stopped along the way for some local color. I’m always drawn to windows and doors and Rome obliged beautifully.
As the light began to fade, the visuals just became ever more stunning.
From architecture…
to decorative details…
to street cafes…
to ruins…
The city delivered more in two hours than I could have imagined!
Rome is a magnificent city that should be enjoyed fully and deeply. I would never recommend that someone who never visited before should see it in two hours. But for an evening in which we hadn’t expected to be out romping about the city, outrunning the setting sun with a brand new camera in tow was an absolute pleasure. We did eventually have dinner at a cafe we ambled by on our walk back to the hotel, sitting on the sidewalk under the night time sky.
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How wonderful that the city called to you! You captured so many aspects of Rome so wonderfully. It is wonderful to just take in the sites of a city!
Thank you Chloe! I really love to travel and Italy is one of my favorite places… 🙂
Gorgeous photos of Rome!
Thanks!
Thank you. As an Art Historian and an Italian, I truly enjoyed the beautiful photos.
Wow, that’s a comment I value! Thank you!! Thanks for taking the time to visit and comment… 🙂
such a lovely city…One of my fave! I miss Europe :)…thanks for sharing your beautiful photos…
Thanks, and thanks for stopping by… 🙂
With your photos it almost felt as if I were there with you. Thanks for the tour!
Thanks so much, Linda! Thanks for taking the time to comment, too… 🙂
Astounding! One day I will visit.
And you will love it! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
I love your story of having just 2 hours left of your vacation to see Rome one more time – and using that time to view and photograph this wonderful city. The evening setting sun gave these wonderful subjects an extraordinary light. Good choice of your time with your new camera! I’ve just found your blog, by the way, from the linky party on French Country Cottage. I’m always overwhelmed by the number of links in these parties but your post of “A Winter White Tablescape” was one I chose to look at. Once at your blog page, however, I chose to look at your travel pictures first. You had me at “Running Around Rome”! Just thought you would be interested how one follower (I just signed up!) found your blog. Thanks for sharing your great pictures!
Thank you so much, Leila! There are so many things about your comment I love, but especially that you enjoy the travel segment of the blog. When I first started blogging, I had intended to post a lot about my travel, but I haven’t found the audience for that yet. I do plan to get more of it posted though, as I’m starting to see some interest. It’s certainly up there among my top passions… 🙂 Thanks for letting me know how you found me, as well!
Such a beautiful collection of photos! I hope to visit Rome soon!
Thank you so much, Constance! Thanks for stopping by to comment, too… 🙂 I hope you get you trip to Rome soon!
You did so much in only two hours! I completely agree that no one should try and plan only two hours in Rome but if I had two hours I wouldn’t let them go to waste and you sure didn’t. Your photos capture the beauty and grandeur of the city. Makes me miss it.
Thanks Megan! It was fun and serendipitous… 🙂
Beautiful photos! I am a new follower… born in Rome… But now I live in Canada….
Thank you so much, Stefania! Welcome to the blog!! And how lovely to have been born in Rome… 🙂