Making our own Walking Tour

On our first full day in Rome we decided to head out on our own walking tour.  We picked out the Pantheon and Trevi fountain as destinations and headed out.  The back alley streets are the way to get around by foot, much more pleasant than the main thorough-fares.  There's still some auto traffic but the cars usually go slower.  Rome's mass transit is not as good as other European cities we've been in.  In any case we wanted to walk and experience the city.  The alleys have lots of cute little shops especially clothing stores.  There are some tacky tourist stores as well.  On our way we encountered Piaza Novano, a big open plaza with tons of artists hawking their work to tourists.  There are some impressive fountains and significant building there as well.  Several blocks later we arrived at the Pantheon.  What an impressive building and so well preserved!  That it's free really makes this a must see destination.  From there, it was only a few blocks to Trevi fountain.  The fountain was quite gorgeous but also packed with tourists.  After hitting these sites, we decided to get some dinner at a well rated pizza place a bit further out of the city center.  The crowds quickly diminished as we walked making us wonder if it was a good area.  Not that it ever really felt unsafe but some blocks were just so empty.  Then we would come upon a busy block seemingly out of nowhere with busy restaurants and nightlife.  We finally found the restaurant only to find out it was closed for dinner!  Still feeling energetic we decided to take a different way back to try a restaurant near the colosseum.  I'll write about this part later.  Time to get some food for breakfast.