Travel to Italy with your dog: Seeing the sites of Rome

When we traveled to Italy with Cosmo, seeing the sites of Rome was as much fun for Cosmo as it was for us! There was plenty to sniff as well as see and we were able to do many of our excursions by foot and paw, although taking a quick subway ride was also no problem with a dog.

First stop was the Colosseum, one of the grandest of all Roman monuments. Then we walked past the Arch of Constantine down Via di San Gregorio...

... toward the Circus Maximus.  Once known as THE place for chariot racing, there's not much left to see there now. But it is possible to imagine the splendor of the site and now it's an excellent place for a dog walk. A little further down the road we had hoped to visit the Bocca della Verità, or Mouth of Truth... 

Here, Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck test the legend of the Mouth of Truth in the 1953 movie Roman Holiday. The story is that the sculpture represents the face of an ancient god who knows if you are telling the truth or lieing! If you tell a lie while inserting your hand in its mouth, it will bite it off! But since the sculpture is now sectioned off as part of a tour of the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, we were not allowed in to try out Cosmo's paw at the truth! While we found dogs are seldom allowed inside of museums and churches, there are still plenty of historic sites to see from the outside.

Next we walked along the Tiber River toward the area known as the Jewish Ghetto, where we passed Rome's main synagogue near the east bank of the Tiber.

Strolling through the Jewish Ghetto, we saw many shops, restaurants and bakeries...

... and stopped for a quick bite of gelato! Most food establishments in Rome do allow dogs, making it very easy to enjoy the journey with your canine companion! After continuing on to the market in Piazza del Campo dei Fiori, we headed on to Piazza Navona.

We enjoyed views of the fountains and activity in the Piazza...

... as well as being able to spend some time viewing the Pantheon nearby. This time Cosmo was allowed inside...

... where he expressed worthy admiration of  the coffers in the concrete dome, and the central opening, or oculus, to the sky!

Nearby, Cosmo provided equal admiration to some meat -- after all he is a dog! The nice lady slicing the mortadella didn't mind too much until Cosmo leaned in just a little closer!!

Later than evening we strolled back toward the Piazza Navona...

And stopped at the famous Four Rivers Fountain. Then it was on to our new evening ritual of hot chocolate, Italian style.

As usual, Cosmo gets to enjoy the experience right along with us and was typically offered some tasty treat by the restauranteurs. After a long day enjoying all that Rome has to offer, there's only one thing to do...

Cosmo dreams about the adventures of the day and whatever lies ahead!...

If you're planning a trip to Italy or an international trip with your dog, here are a few other posts you might enjoy:

• International Paperwork Preparation
• How to Prepare Your Dog For a Long Plane Ride
• Arriving in Rome, Dog-Friendly InterContinental Hotel, Piazza del Popolo
• A Walk Through Parco della Villa Borghese
• Great restaurants to enjoy with your dog in Parco della Villa Borghese
• Circus Maximus: Cosmo says bring on the gladiators
• St. Francis Watches Over All Animals
• Milan: The Duomo

And now it's time to check out what our pals are doing at the Pet Blogger Hop!