With just two nights in Rome, and having been here for a week 19 years ago, our interest was simply to enjoy the city with a series of exhausting walks. No meal was exceptional, except for a lunch on a hot afternoon with a wine merchant/sommelier/man-of-the-world reduced to being our waiter at a sidewalk cafe about three blocks from the Spanish Steps. (Whatever a “block” is in Rome—it ain’t rectangular.) He was knowledgeable and well-spoken and when he advised that I might change my order of an afternoon negroni cocktail to a “broken negroni,” made with Prosecco in place of gin, I foolishly rejected his sound advice. How was I to know that a €7 cocktail might contain six shots of booze? Who said Rome wasn’t built in a daze? Looks that way to me.
That faux pas aside (my Italian is improving), the orange salad and quattro formaggi pizza were outstanding, as was our chat with the waiter (which Rod says was excessive due to my being undeniably bombed) about European politics and Donald Trump.
Otherwise, we saw both the familiar and the previously unexplored, often by accident.
Notice the subject trend? Nope, he was not traveling alone, but with all these Roman ruins, photos of his companion would be redundant.
The city has lots of neat buildings.
Sant’Angelo (top two) is hardly noticed in Rome. We would notice it in San Francisco! Looks like there is more stone than interior space.
The national museum is oddly phallic…I mean the scale of the three items?
The Forum Boarium (sounds like a place on Sesame Street) we missed the first time we visited the “real” Forum, across the street. Apparently, Caesar was not at the Forum when assassinated, but heck, neither was I, thankfully. The Forum Boarium and the site next to it (shown at the head of this page) were easy to overlook from across a busy street that probably was not there in 44B.C.
The fifth photo is of a gallery building. It housed this elegant courtyard covered in glass and probably 150 years old, but cool just the same. Rome did not quit building great stuff just because the empire fell on its arse.
And quaint views.
We stopped for iced tea at a bustling open-air fruit and veggie market when I noticed how many apartment buildings have rooftop gardens. Because Rome has never allowed highrises cluttering the skyline, views from the tops of four- and five-story buildings are unobstructed, except by their own greenery.
At the end of a long shopping street stands a significant obelisk.
[These movies were shot with the best intention of editing both video and audio, but time has been the great enemy of achieving desirable results.]
Sambandar 
As we begin preparations to return to N.E., after a wonderful visit with Gavin, your journey is still in its’ infancy. While we’re mourning the fact that Gavin is growing too damn fast, at age 8, you’re looking at B.C. ruins. No wonder you need more time. Great pictures of Rome and of Rod. I get the feeling that this is simply a rehearsal or warm-up for the adventures that will soon begin. Am I correct if I state that Venice has been the highlight of your trip thus far? I’m sure that will change as your travels south begin. I look forward to your pictures and quips every morning so don’t get lazy. Stay well!
Venice was new to us; Rome and Florence were not, so naturally Venice has been the most interesting. It is a great place to visit, but if I had to live in one of the three, Rome would be my choice. I think that Venice is a place that you have to have grown up in to live there successfully. We are in Naples now. Places are never as you expect, but you will just have to wait to learn why.