Exploring Rome with Rick Steves' Audio Guide

Earphones

Obviously you'll want a pair of earphones to listen to the audio guide.

I had brought my ISOtunes PRO Aware noise canceling earphones with me - the same ones I use when operating noisy machinery back at home. The adjustable noise canceling turned out to be a great feature - I could increase the ambient volume to here Diana, or turn it down to mute the crowds.

Something like Apple AirPods would be perfect for this - I've been eyeing up a pair of Beats Fit Pro because my old AirPods will only hold a charge for a couple of minutes before dying.

Diana used her Otium Bluetooth Headphones which worked great too.

Campo de' Fiori

This walking tour starts at the Campo de' Fiori, a bustling market spot in the center of Rome. After a lighthearted introduction, the audio guide began telling us about the history of the plaza - including its history as an entertainment center and the significance of the statue of Giordano Bruno standing tall in the middle.

Palazzo Farnese

Soon, our guide instructed us to move on, down Via dei Baullari to the Palazzo Farnese, now home to the French embassy. As well as history, our audio guide taught us about the architecture of the building and its two fountains - the first of many we'd see on the tour.

We turned around and were led back across the Campo de' Fiori, along the narrow street before crossing Corso Vittorio Emanuele II.

Statue called Pasquino

This is a great example of what I love about Rome. I'm sure countless tourists, unenlightened by a tour guide like ours, walk straight past this unassuming statue every day.

But not us.

We stopped and listened as we learned about its history - of how this statue was discovered around 1500CE and for the last 500 years has been used as a community bulletin board. Even today, it was adorned with political posters and notes from locals.

Piazza Navona

Our next stop was Piazza Navona. This may have been our third time visiting here in the past couple of weeks, but it's still no less impressive! Once again, there was much for us to learn - from how it owes its oval shape to its origins as a race track, to the significance of the imagery in the Four Rivers Fountain.

The audio guide offered to let us pause and explore the area some more - perhaps get a gelato in one of the cafes. Having already spent some time here before, we chose to keep moving.

Pantheon

We stopped once again at the Pantheon. This time, the audio guide gave us only brief information about the building, suggesting instead that for more detail we should listen to the separate, dedicated (and free) guide all about the Pantheon.

Originally, that had been our plan, however between the entrance line that had formed from regular Saturday tourists and the crowd that had amassed for a protest in the square, we decided to save it for another day.

We once again wound our way through the narrow streets, learning not just about Rome's ancient history, but also some more relevant local insights - like where the locals like to go for a coffee!

Parliament

One of the nice things about using the app for the walking tour is that it also has an accompanying map. That came in useful on this leg when we the crowds and traffic made it hard to tell from the audio description alone where to go - but a quick look at the map and it was clear.

At the Parliament building, we learned about the Egyptian Obelisk - dating back to the sixth century BCE. It's incredible to think about the engineering that was involved in moving this 70-foot tall red-granite single-piece structure from Ancient Egypt to the heart of Rome.

Unfortunately, due to heightened security around the Parliament building, we had to take a slight detour from the prescribed route. But once again, thanks to the map, we quickly rejoined at the next location: Piazza Colonna.

Piazza Colonna

When we had first stumbled upon the intimidating 97-foot column in the center of the square a few weeks ago, we knew we were looking at something impressive, but didn't know what.

Thanks to our audio guide we learned that this white marble column tells the (embellished) story of Emperor Marcus Aurelius as he battled the barbarians around 170AD. More intriguingly, the column isn't solid but is actually hollow. A narrow staircase weaves its way up the inside, explaining the narrow vertical slots in the column - they're windows!

Trevi Fountain

We headed through Galleria Sordi, a shopping center currently undergoing extensive renovations, on our way to another big hitter on this tour - the Trevi Fountain.

It was a lot busier than when we had visited last time so we didn't stick around too long, but nonetheless we learned a few new things about the Trevi Fountain - like how water gushes from 24 spouts over 30 different kinds of (stone) plants.

The Trevi Fountain is a notorious spot for pick-pocketers, and while we were already aware and on guard, it was reassuring that the audio guide called this out too so if you didn't know before, you do now!

Spanish Steps

Our final stop on the tour was the Spanish Steps, about a 10 minute walk from the Trevi Fountain. While the guide offered us an option to make our own way there and skip ahead in the playlist (could be a great option if you wanted more time to explore the area), we chose to stick with the audio narration.

As we ambled our way through the narrow streets, there were a few more points of interest for us to see. First, we stopped at Via del Nazareno #9 where we were able to glimpse Aqua Vergine - the ancient aqueduct rebuilt in 45 CE that still feeds many of Rome's fountains even today.

We walked along Via Propaganda, past the Palace of the Propagation of Faith, until we reached the Immaculate Conception Column, adorned with a bronze statue of Mary on top.

The statue sits in front of the Spanish Embassy, betraying our location - Piazza di Spagna. Just a few hundred feet further and we reached our final destination: the Spanish Steps.

We had reached the end of the tour, and after learning a little more about the Spanish Steps, the guide ended with some helpful suggestions for what we might like to do next - perhaps some retail therapy at the nearby luxury fashion stores?

Not for us - we had something a little different in mind.... But you'll have to wait for next time to see what it was!