I arrived in Rome via the train sometime around noon. I was tired from generally traveling, as well as my general lack of sleep, so without a specific destination in mind, I simply wandered around the train station. Almost immediately, an ancient looking structure caught my attention and I wandered towards it.

I made my way inside the Baths of Diocletian museum, which had an impressive display of ancient Roman artifacts inside.

 

 

Quite the poetry!

After spending a fair amount of time in the museum, I just walked around outside, taking some photos of some old buildings, which were what originally drew me into the direction of the museum.

By that time, it was already getting late. I spent the remaining part of the evening looking for a good place for me to sleep, but I failed to find anything that seemed suitable. I eventually returned to the main station, where I laid down on a bench with hopes of sleeping through the night. I did manage to get a few hours of sleep, but my slumber was interrupted by employees of the train station. Apparently, they didn’t like people sleeping in the train station overnight, and they were kicking everyone out, like they did every night. Some other people who produced tickets showing that they were catching really early trains were permitted to remain, but since I had no such thing to offer, I was kicked out of the station along with the others who also failed to provide a suitable explanation.

Half delirious from my increasing lack of sleep as I wandered in the predawn darkness, I started roaming around Rome.

I wandered around for a while, and I stumbled across this statue.

I am not sure where exactly it is – I tried doing some research, but I couldn’t quite find out who it was. Some more walking, and I ended up above the Piazza del Popolo.

This used to be the location of the norther gates to the city, and public executions used to take place here, up until 1826. While walking down the stairs, I also encountered what I believe to be my favorite street art that I have seen yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a pretty famous fountain in Rome, and the world. With it’s polished white stone and crystal clear water, it is obviously well maintained. It was also packed with tourists, and getting a photo without tons of people took a little effort, as you can still see them at the bottom of the photo. After that, I wandered around some more and made my way to the Altar of the Fatherland.

 

The Altar of the Fatherland is dedicated to Victor Emmanuel, which was the first king of a united Italy. After checking that out for a minute, I continued walking around and I started making my way to the Colosseum.

 

I didn’t have time to go in that day (I think they weren’t permitting any more guests that day), but I did go in the following day, which I will cover in my next post.

This Arch, like most arches, serves as a memorial to a victory in a battle. In this case, Constantine I beat Maxentius (another Roman Emperor) at the Battle of Milvian Bridge, which took place in 312AD.

Since the sun was creeping towards the horizon, I spent a while scouting out a place where I could sleep for the night. Very conveniently, there is a park right next to the Colosseum, so I simply chilled in the park for a while until nightfall. Once darkness enveloped the park, I went over to a secluded corner of the park, unrolled my cardboard and laid down for the evening with the world’s most amazing nightlight in front of me.

Undisturbed, I actually got a pretty decent, and much-needed, night of sleep. Ready for another day in Rome, I set out, but I will cover the next 2 days in my next post!