Duane Pandorf Photography

We left the London area a little late this afternoon and didn’t arrive into Rome until after late afternoon.  By the time we got to the hotel we missed the 1800 hotel bus to downtown. The next bus for town did not leave until 2000.  I wasn’t sure if it was going to be worth the effort but at the last minute I said, “What the heck, when’s the next time you going to be in Rome?”

As we were leaving the hotel (did you know we really do live in a small world!) I ran into a fellow pilot I hadn’t seen in almost 8 years from when I’d worked in Portugal. I included a quick grab shot as they were heading out for a trip to the USA.

The bus ride was at least a half hour drive to the city and we were left off at the Piazza Dei Tribunali.  From here was just a short walk to the Vatican.  Since we didn’t get into the city till almost 2045, the sun was already setting.  There was hardly any time for the light so I had to do my best with what opportunities arose.

On the way from the Piazza there was a very colorful merry go round.  I happened to catch a photographer shooting a nice couple.  From there it was on to the Vatican.

The Vatican was different than I expected.  But then that was probably because it was already dark.  We didn’t walk around too much there and then grabbed a cab for the colosseum and the old part of Rome.

The cab dropped us off in front of the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II.  Again this would have been a better opportunity to have shot this late in the day and not at night.

We headed on down Via dei Fori Imperialli to the Colosseum.  By now its already going on 2145 in the evening.  On the way to the Colosseum I grabbed a shot of an artist sketching the scene down the street.  It was a bit warm but a beautiful night.

Once we’d walked around the Colosseum it was time to get back to the hotel.  All in all I thought I didn’t do too bad for just having two hours in Rome!