BUS 449 Post 18: Rome, Italy

            On the streets of ancient Rome, you can smell the warm aroma of the bakeries, check out handmade leather of a local craftsman, stroll through the tucked-away piazza that seems stuck in the 16th century.

            Galleria Borghese is known to be the best museum in Rome. Its collections can be seen at a magnificent 17th-century villa. Another famous attraction in town is the San Luigi dei Francesi church. The place is basically a reminder that 400-year-old art was provocatively modern when it was first conceived.

            See the best-known Italian designers at the Via Condotti. You can have a great shopping experience on Via del Governo Vecchio or zig-zag from piazza to piazza to find some of the quainter (and more affordable) shops. When you get hungry, you can try some of the best stand-up pizzas EVER pretty much anywhere on the streets of this Italian city.  Furthermore, one of the best restaurants with the nicest terraces is Ristorante Al Presidente, flat in the center of town, under the shadow of the Quirinale presidential palace.

            The Gianicolo (or Janiculum) is the hill that affords the best view of Rome. It is located west of the Tiber and outside the ancient city. The Gianicolo can also give you a quick and slightly more modern history lesson on the Italian Risorgimento, the 19th-century movement (and wars) that unified modern Italy.