10/2/10: Rome, Day 3

Alright, I've had my dinner and my caramel gelato so now it's time to relax for the night.

Today was a nice, easygoing day. I actually got some sleep, so that was nice. At first I was worried because I had woken up again at 2am, after only sleeping for 3 hours, but I was able to go back to sleep again.

My first stop today was the Spanish steps at the Piazza di Spagna. This was another "must-see" on my list for several years now. In my bedroom at home, I have had a picture of these steps hanging on my wall for years now. It was cool to actually see them in person. The place is a major tourist attraction, so it was very crowded by the time I got there, but it was still great to see. I spent close to an hour sitting on the steps watching the crowd below. It was very relaxing.

From the Spanish steps, I walked down to the Trevi Fountain. This is perhaps the most famous of all the fountains here in Rome. It was built in the 1700's and is another popular tourist attraction.

After spending some time at the Trevi Fountain, I headed off to dinner. I don't remember the name of the place, but I had a decent baked salmon there. For an appetizer, I had this garlic bread with tomato chunks on it. it was actually pretty good! I stopped off at the hotel for a minute then decided to get my gelato. When is a walk around the block not a walk around the block? When you are in Rome and leave the map in your hotel room! There is a gelato place not too far from my hotel, but I decided to walk around the block to see what else was around first. Well, next thing I know, i am walking down a street I have never heard of and am completely lost. I just happened to backtrack enough to find my footing again and walked back to the place that was close to the hotel. Some of the streets here seem to have a new name every 3 blocks, so that makes it hard to get a sense of direction sometimes. Tomorrow, I might attempt to get to the Pantheon (navigating these streets can be tricky) and I am looking for an American style bar to watch NFL football at.