"Roma" a Rome Travel Page by nyonnetti

We went to Italy for the first time in October and absolutely fell in love with Rome. Rome is exactly how I pictured it would be except 500x intensified. We stayed a block away from Piazza Barberini and was only a few minutes walking distance away from Trevi fountain. Our location couldn't have been any better. The atmosphere around our B&B was theatrical. The streets around us were filled with markets and street vendors, quaint little shops and delicious cafes/gelaterias. We would walk the alleys until after midnight, never worrying for our safety. Some friends of ours stayed near the coliseum, and although being near the coliseum is incredible, the streets did not feel as safe and did not have the atmosphere that the Barberini area had. We had an agenda and wanted to follow suggested itineraries by Frommers and Rick Steves'. These itineraries were extremely helpful but the reality is that Rome is too packed with history and gems to see everything that you want to see in one trip. Exhaustion will set in if you try to see everything. We saw so much, but not everything that I planned on. However, I have no regrets because it was the most memorable trip I have ever taken. So my advice is to see a top tourist sight a day and enjoy roaming the city, especially at night. We will be back, believe me.

All I could say when I saw this area was "wow!" Seeing the Coliseum was very surreal for us, I just wanted to keep touching it, saying to myself, "this is almost 2,000 years old!" We visited the Coliseum and Forum on a Sunday, as Sundays the streets around ancient Rome close off to pedestrians only. The streets were filled with entertainers and musicians and it just made the whole experience like something you would see in a movie. As I mentioned in the tip page, get the Roma pass or at least your Coliseum ticket at the Palatine Hill ticket booth (located in the Roman Forum) and then you can skip the ticket line at the Coliseum. You enter with the tour groups and although you still have to wait in the line to go through the metal detectors, the line moves very quickly. We were told we were in the wrong line several times by well-meaning tour guides, but once we explained we already had tickets, they understood.
The Forum was free to walk through (except Palatine Hill, but the Coliseum ticket includes this). We really enjoyed picturing what it must have looked like 2000 years ago when Imperial Rome was at it's peak-it was awesome. We used the guidebook to give us explanations of what each building or ruin was. You can rent audioguides as well, and I may try to do that next time.