Today is our last full day in Rome before heading home to the US. We decided to leverage our Rick Steve's Rome tour guide and take ourselves on a self-guided tour of the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and other sites in the area. Mike mapped out our quest on our cartoon map so we had an idea of where we were going

After spending two days at our apartment and always walking toward Trevi Fountain, imagine our surprise when we discovered that the Spanish Steps were literally just steps away. Roughly 2 blocks away in the opposite direction!

Because it was Sunday and the weather was beautiful, everyone was out and about. We approached the steps from the bottom and proceeded to make the climb upward (174 steps) reaching the Trinita dei Monti church at the top, navigating past hundreds of others with the same idea. The Steps are located in a well-established shopping district; pretty sure the Steps were there first, then the shops! At the top of the Steps you could look down and see the herds of people meandering down the various streets. We decided to follow suit, as well as follow Rick Steve's guide.

We stopped at a little restaurant along one of the streets to have breakfast. As it was nearly 11 am, we shifted slightly to devour some sandwiches, coffee, and a couple of cocktails. Then on to the Trevi fountain. We were just there last night, but this is different! Before you even get to it, you can hear the rush of the fountain and feel the energy in the air. Tons of people were enjoying the view and shopping in the area.

We shopped along the way and picked up a few souvenirs, some Murano glass vases, a ceramic wall clock with musical notes on it, and a new top for Karol because she was dying from the heat, and a white dress for Jean (which was one size fits all, so…)

There were tons of shops and restaurants along the tour as we headed to the Pantheon. It was amazing. The Pantheon was originally dedicated to the many gods (pan for many; theos for gods). After the fall of Rome, the Pantheon became a Christian Church, so today there are many altars to the Christian martyrs. The architecture has been copied many times, from Florence to the Vatican, to the Capitol in Washington DC.

We continued our tour through Piazza Navona with three beautiful fountains in it, including the Fountain of Neptune. Stopped for gelato, which is always delicious. Then continued on to Campo de Fiori, an open market selling cheeses, meats, spices, pasta, fruit, veggies, and so on. We bought a few bags of spices then had lunch at The Campo de Fiori Cafe. Pizza in the Piazza!

We headed back to our airbnb after stopping for wine and cheese at the grocery store. We spent our last evening checking out the evening views from both of the upper decks, and then began prepping for our flights home the next day. Don't want to leave!