Day 3 in Rome – Piazza del Popolo, Campo de’ Fiori, St Peter’s Basilica, Castel Sant’Angelo

Day 3 – Sight seeing at Piazza Del Popolo > walk to Spagna > Campo de’ Fiori > St Peter’s Basilica > Dinner in Vatican > Night view of Castel Sant’Angelo

I explored a few more places before my boyfriend aka Mr Map would arrive in the afternoon. First stop – Piazza del Popolo. Flaminio (Metro A) is the closest station to Popolo.

Piazza del Popolo is not as popular as the other major landmarks in Rome. However, once you walk up the hill to II Pincio, you will get a picturesque view of the city. It is quite romantic to take a stroll in the garden and get to Spagna station.

II Pincio is part of the Villa Borghese. The area is quite big and it seems that there are a lot of things to see. Knowing that my map reading skill is not very good, I just found the most direct route to get to Spagna (near Trinita del Monti).

I walked pass this lovely restaurant with outdoor seating. It was still early when I got there and didn’t have a chance to try it.

Caffe Ciampini

Address: Viale Trinità dei Monti, Rome

http://www.caffeciampini.com/inglese/

I managed to get to Trinita del Monti without getting lost in the garden!

Here I am again at the Spanish steps. I took the metro to Termini station in order to catch bus 64 to get to the area near Pantheon. It is probably not the most direct route to get there but I was too tired to walk there.

I travelled all the way just for this gelato place – Giolitti. It is one of the most famous ice-cream parlour where Audrey Hepburn and the Obama daughters had been to.

It offers a wide range of flavour.

I picked the 2 exotic flavour Roman Holiday and Sicilian Cassata. It tastes ok, though I have to admit, the more exotic flavours are not really my cup of tea.

Giolitti

Address: Via Uffici del Vicario, 40, Rome

http://www.giolitti.it

I headed to Campo de’ Fiori after having my gelato. I love to visit local markets when I travel. It is the perfect place to take photos and to buy fresh local products.

Campo de’Fiori

http://www.turismoroma.it/cosa-fare/campo-de’-fiori?lang=en

I bought some strawberries and cherry tomatoes at the market and got ready to meet my Mr Map. I couldn’t help to take photos of the Colosseum and other historical sites on my way back.

Mr Map finally arrived! No more google maps and getting lost in the city! I know there is someone I can count on 🙂 We took the metro to St Peter’s Basilica once Mr Map dropped his luggage off.

The queue was not that long as we arrived in the late afternoon. We wanted to go up to the dome but it had just closed (closed at around 5pm). We could only visit the inside of the St Peter’s Basilica. No shorts, miniskirt or bare shoulders are allowed inside the Basilica. Many people wear a scarf to cover their tank tops.

It is Rome’s largest and richest church. The interior is magnificient and definitely one of the most spectacular churches I have ever seen.

I took some photos of the swiss guard just like all other tourists did in Vatican.

We waited for the sunset as St Peter’s Basilica as the changing light makes it look different as the sun sets, and the night lamps make it look even more impressive in the dark. We took a lot of photos of the Basilica with different lighting. You might notice the following 2 photos look significantly different from my previous photos. Credit to Mr Map with his Nikon D610 camera, no filter added.

St Peter’s Basilica

Opening hours: 07:00 to 19:00 (April to Sep); 07:00-18:00 (Oct to Mar)

Opening hours to the Dome: 08:00-18:00 (Apr to Sep); 08:00-17:00 (Oct to Mar)

http://www.vaticanstate.va/content/vaticanstate/en/informazioni-utili.html

We grabbed some pizza at a nearby pizzeria and ordered something different – cheese & cucumber pizza. We laughed as we ate this combination, as the first ever lunch I made for my boyfriend was a cheese and cucumber sandwich, a little bit sentimental. He said that the pizza tasted a lot better.