From the previous time in Rome, we knew one can hit most of the 'tourist circuit' by walking. We purchased a 2-day metro for subway use anyway. The stations aren't all that convenient for tourists, but riding makes for a nice change of pace.
We are about a 5-minute walk from the Central Termani with access to Metro Lines A and B. We took the former and headed to the Vatican first. There was not a cloud in the blue sky and the morning temperatures were lovely. It is the life-time dream of some devout to make it to St. Peter's Basilica. It seems a bit unfair that I'm not Catholic but visited for the third time today. Yet as it was Sunday in August, we waited around an hour so we could see the Pope appear for a sermon from his tiny window.
After, we looked at our handy tourist maps and walked down a long road to cross the river to Piazza del Popolo. That is one of the places for tourists to hang out. We did for a bit but the biggest fountain was turned off, not for renovations but because of drought conditions. It was one of the only empty fountains of the day though.
We took the subway back to our area for lunch. The weather is at its hottest from 2:00 to 4:00 so it made a perfect time for a snooze.
For the evening outing we again found the Spanish Steps after a nine-year absence. We eventually found our way back to the Trevi Fountain too. There surely are a lot of tourists in town! We continued walking and got a little lost. So, we were a bit surprised when we noticed the Pantheon. We'd intended that part of Rome for tomorrow's exploration. As long as we were so close, we marched to Plaza Navona.
We got back to our hotel after eating something. It was dark. My Mi Band showed that we walked about 13.5 kilometers today. Jay is supposed to do a lot of walking but today felt a bit much for me! We'll probably repeat a similar process tomorrow though.