I stayed in one of the most overcrowded tourist spots
Some sit exhausted on the steps to eat sandwiches, but will be moved on if police happen by. Others snap selfies using long sticks. Yet others in improbable fashions strike poses for social-media posts.
Like everyone, there are times when I bemoan overtourism, but sometimes I just have to embrace it, and where better than on these whimsical steps, fronted by a baroque fountain and topped by a 16th-century twin-towered church?
All these surging visitors are harmless enough. They're out in the sun, freed from routine and work, and excited about being in Italy. They chatter and hold hands and kiss and pose. Surely this celebration of life shouldn't be bemoaned.
If you want a light-hearted, lively and lovely corner of Rome to stay in, the Spanish Steps beckon. You're right in the capital's most elegant shopping district, centred on Via dei Condotti, though if you're a fashionista you shouldn't miss Via Borgognona and Via Frattina, either.
You can walk to the Trevi Fountain and Piazza Navona and (if you're a hearty walker at least) 2.2 kilometres to the Colosseum too. More esoteric sights are nearby, such as the Keats-Shelley house, the great sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini's house, and Rome's oldest coffeehouse, Antico Caffe Greco.
And even here, in this busy Roman district, you can escape into the vast green space of the nearby Villa Borghese gardens, and find one of Europe's best art museums, Galleria Borghese, particularly unmissable if you're a fan of Caravaggio.
In the evenings, I walk down the busy streets towards Piazza del Popolo, with its twin churches and obelisk. Crowds surge with me, but so what? I can stickybeak on the world and every nation's tourist habits.
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