Ah! Uh-Oh.

What can you do in Rome in a day? Well, here's a idea…

1. If you arrive on a Sunday morning at 7:00, there will be little traffic and few tourists on the streets. So first up, the Trevi fountain. Don’t forget to toss a coin in over your shoulder which guarantees you will return to Rome. (2 coins gets you love, 3 coins gets you a spouse. I got all three so it must be valid!)

2. Make your way to the famous Spanish Steps, an impressive flight of stairs intended to lead up to the Spanish Embassy. Now its just a great place to meet, take photos and eat gelato.

(On the route to your next destination, pause to photograph a message with more meaning since you’ve just come from ‘Palestine’.)

3. Walk the short distance to the Piazza della Rotonda where the Pantheon is located and realize there is a Sunday Mass service taking place and you must wait to take a look. No worries, there’s plenty of al fresco dining on the piazza and even though there is a ‘table charge’, have a calzone and watch the tourists.

4. After lunch step inside the Pantheon and gawk at the wonder of ‘how did they do that’? Built in 27 BC and then rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in 120 AD it is one of Rome’s best preserved ancient monuments. It is the largest masonry vault ever built.

5. Next stop is the Piazza Novona with the center fountain sculpted by Bernini. It also had a feature role in ‘Angels and Demons’ when Tom Hanks jumped in to use the air hoses to rescue a Cardinal marked for death. Its an impressive piazza with tons of tourists and lots of street performers.

6. For 1 Euro you can catch bus #40 or #64 and get over to St. Peters and Vatican city. You’ve got 75 minutes to use your ticket on other transportation, so get a move on and see the Basilica.

7. If you pace yourself and do a little walk/run you can grab the Metro outside of St. Peter’s and scoot over to the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano. Visited by FEW tourists and the place for the Pope before the Vatican it’s a perfect stop for a nap. I mean visit.

8. Cross the street and see the Scala Santa, a staircase said to be the one that Jesus walked up in Pontius Pilate’s palace in Jerusalem. (That sounds familiar.) No time to climb them, its compulsory to do it on your knees and everyone is so slow it takes about an hour.

9. Walk a few blocks on your ‘barking dogs’ and the Coliseum rises up to meet you; the symbol of ancient Rome! Take some photos, peek between the bars and plan a tour for your next visit to Rome. It’s about 5:30 PM by now and things are closing and dinner is needed.

10. Take a heavy breathing climb up the stairs behind the Monument to Vittorio Emmanuel and take in a stunning view of the Roman Forum. Take some photos and stop long enough to breath again cause its time for dinner and the third round of gelato.

So there you have it. The highlights in less than 12 hours!

(I had two thoughts when we landed in Rome. AH! And Uh-Oh. AH because it’s only in the high 80’s and so much cooler than Egypt, Uh-Oh because there is an endless supply of gelato vendors.)