Rome, The Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain, Day Three

I knew we didn't have much time in Rome, but I wanted to make the most of it. With that in mind, I had a list of must-see places in my mind that I was eager to start ticking off. Since the Coliseum had just been checked off, we took to the metro again, this time with a stop at The Spanish Steps. I didn't know what to expect, but I knew they were famous and didn't want to leave Rome without having seen them. They're a bunch of steps...that were covered with people--very Sacre Coeur/Montmartre-esque. I definitely wasn't expecting the crowds that we encountered in Rome. There were tons of people everywhere.

There are some of Steve's favorite people he saw at the Steps. Aren't they great? I love the eyes on the woman in the middle.

The Belizean Consolate was right across the piazza, which was pretty cool.

And the Keats-Shelley House was to the right of the steps. Keats died there, so the English major in me had to take a picture. I also love the Byron dry cleaners next to it.

From there, we took the metro to the Trevi Fountain area, where we ate dinner at That's Amore, a restaurant Steve had been to earlier in the week. He recommended the peppery pecorino pasta, which was quite good. When dinner was over, we walked down the hill to the fountain and were met with more crowds of people.

We were rather amazed at how slick some people were when it came to relieving you of your money. By the Spanish Steps, guys were literally--and rather roughly--forcing flowers into women's hands "as a gift" and then they'd hit the men up for money. When they realized that the man wasn't going to pay up, they would eagerly grab the flowers from the woman who didn't want them in the first place and try to pawn them off on some other unsuspecting woman. (Dude, I tried to warn you I just wasn't interested in the first place.) At Trevi Fountain, there was another skilled man who offered to take our picture and then wanted us to pay for a better one taken with his camera. No thanks, pal. You offered.

Since it was a nice evening, we treated ourselves to more gelato. We seriously couldn't get enough of the stuff, and people aren't kidding when they say that there are gelato stands everywhere. They're akin to Dunkin Donuts in New England.

By this point, we were more than ready to call it a day, so we headed towards the metro, eager to return to our hotel. Closed. We walked to the metro at the Spanish Steps. Closed. Keep in mind, it was only around 9 or 9:30, so it's not like it was late. It was Sunday, however. Without further ado, we walked back the 3 miles to our hotel and crashed. It had been a long day.