More of Rome in 2 hours

Having just gone to Rome, I thought I ought to catch a couple of things I missed on the previous visit.  I didn't have as much time, this time but I knew exactly what I wanted to see.  As it turned out, I didn't get to catch everything I wanted because the line at the Vatican Museum was long.  Also, I didn't really know how long it would take to get through the museum, including the Sistine Chapel. 

These aren't captioned.  There's not really much to caption.  The first picture is out of order (it should be near the end).  It is an attempt at a panoramic splice of the Trevi Fountain.  I took three pictures to get it all and the idea of doing a panorama occurred to me later.  Hence, it's not a very good splice, but it does give an idea of the size of the thing.  The rest are from the Vatican Museum.  There aren't any from inside the Sistine Chapel because they do not allow photography inside (and I decided to respect that, though, I can't figure out why non-flash photography should be prohibited). 

My original plan was to hit the Sistine Chapel, then hoof it to the Piazza Novano, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, then back to the hotel.  I wound up cabbing it from the Vatican to the Trevi fountain because of the time.  If you ever visit Rome, schedule half a day for the Vatican Museum alone.  If you want to add St. Peters, and you have a particular interest in anything religious, artistic, Catholic, colorful, big, or old, schedule at least an entire day for the whole lot of it (I could probably spend 2 or maybe 3 days without getting bored).  It's well worth it.  The Fountain is worth looking at but it only takes a few minutes.

If you want to do the high speed tour, I think I've figured out a way to do all the most important things in Rome in one (long) day.  Because some stuff at the Vatican closes early, and because it's on the opposite end of everything from the Colosseum, I'd recommend starting at the Vatican in the morning, doing St. Peters first, then the museum (Sistine Chapel and all) at opening (they open at 8:45 on weekdays, expect the line to be long).  Then hoof it across the river to the Piazza Novano, followed by the Pantheon (I missed those two), then the Trevi Fountain, then the Spanish Steps (they're all basically in line with each other), then around the park to the 'top' of the Via Veneto, down the Via Veneto to the Piazza Barbarini, down to the ruins and the Colosseum.  Be there around sunset for good pictures (see the last set).  After that, you've seen Rome.  Then if you have more time, go back to the best of them and do the tours, spend some time, whatever.  Enjoy the photos!