Per my understanding, Via Veneto used to be one of the hippest places in Rome to see and be seen especially in the 60s and 70s. It was the epicenter of the La Dolce Vita from the guides and books I read. I heard about it from people who had visited Italy when I was a child and I even saw some retail shops named after this famous street in the commercial districts of Manila.

After our visit to the Pantheon, we decided to walk back to our hotel and dry up. It had been raining cats and dogs by that time.

To do that we had to walk up Via Nazionale. Since Via Veneto was one of the cross streets, we decided to take a detour and see it for ourselves. I thought it was a street like the ones in and around the Spanish steps. The place did look grand with magnificent fountains and monuments. However, it seemed more like a street of offices and residential buildings. In other words, it was very quiet and it did not have the hustle and bustle I originally expected. The US Embassy is around here I was told. Perhaps, we just didn't get to walk its entire stretch to find out. The rain did bother us then and we were no longer in the mood to keep on walking.

Anyway, as I have been saying over and over, next time we shall explore more.

We knew Rome was going to be wet during our visit. We did check the weather forecast and we learned that Italy is usually at its wettest from late fall through February. During our stay in Italy, it did rain for three separate days relentlessly. We didn't complain though since the rest of our stay was simply divine.