At the top of the Via Nazionale is the Piazza della Repubblica with this superb fountain. There are literally hundreds in Rome and it can lead to one suffering from a surfeit of fountains.
Not a bad complaint but this is certainly s superb symptom.

The interior of this church was striking to say the least.

We carried on walking the streets and found ourselves outside the Palazzo del Quirinale which is the Palace of the President of italy. What was going on I could not be certain but it involved a lot of police cars and a goodly number of limo's with nose-pickers windows (black glass) and this very camp individual who was prancing about ,waving his little bat, and controlling the traffic.
He looked like an audition for "The Pirates of Penzance".

From here down a few dozen steps, down one cobbled hill and then another, shorter , one (remember the knees) brings you to the Trevi Fountain.
Here the surroundings are as amazing as the fountain, but for exactly the opposite reason.
The fountain is a beautiful work of art and yet the buildings around it crowding in on it are plain and bland, but when you are there you do not notice, your eyes are filled with the beauty of the fountain.
The lady in the picture is my wife,Joyce. It at least proves she did enjoy it.

Eventually we found our base and rested after the days exertions we set off to see what the evening had to offer.
First up came the Provincia di Roma, a local government building which just caught my eye

Time for dinner and the back to the hotel, shown here. Please do not zoom into Joyce's face as she is wearing her "have you finished" expression.

The following morning we decided to take a tour bus and set off to find one which we knew stopped at the bottom of the Via Nazionale. However whether it was the effects of the fountains taking over or the lure of the coffee served in the Piazza della Republica I don't know but we again walked all the way up the Via Nazionale to get the bus. If you are thinking of going it is worth noting that the tour busses take a different route on a Sunday so a 48 hour ticket bought sat or sun gets the best results.
This Pic was taken whilst enjoying the coffee.

Piazza Vittorio Emannuel

The entrance to the "Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II

The Castel Sant' Angelo or the Mausoleum of Hadrian(completed in 139 AD)

Got back on the bus and re-crossed the river, alighting at the "Mausoleum of Augustus" only to find it railed off by the ministry of works and looking like a building site. But just beyond it we found , wait for it, The"Basilica dei Santi Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso" This is the Back View.

When we left yhe church we found this group of street musicians who were playing great music.
X factor, eat your heart out

In the evening, at dinner I fond that my daughters King Charles Spaniel had followed us and hidden in my coffee

The following day we went out to give the knees a further battering starting in the Chiesa di Santa Maria di Loretto,

Followed by the Chiesa del Santissimo Name di Maria al Foro Traiano which mouthful translates as
The Church of the Holy Name of Mary at the Forum of Trajan. Bet you feel a lot better knowing that.

Back outside, mare knee bashing took us around these pretty special places.
Trajans Collumn

The church of Santa maria Antiqua

That Evening was our last and I still had achieved little of what I had dreamed of. The Trevi, at night, was beyond the knees so it had to be the ruins Starting with The Arch of Constantine

And last, but by no means least was the Colosseum. A truly magical place to spend your last evening in such a magnificent city

Arrivederci Roma

You took my heart (and my knees)