On October 4th, 2010, we flew in to Rome at 9 am. We found our way to the baggage check, got our huge day-packs, and made the small trek to the Leonardo Express into the city. Jet-lagged like crazy, we both looked 'out of it' on the train, but we mustered the energy to put our packs on and eventually found our hotel. We stayed at the Londra & Cargill which was, for all it's purposes, very nice. Definite plus was the included breakfast...buffet style, and as much espresso as you want! Zowee! That first one actually made my eyes pop.
Unfortunately, we got there a bit early as check-in time was 2pm and we arrived there at 11:30am. They allowed us to stow our bags and told us to come back in 4 hours as our room should be ready by then. 4 HOURS on about 3 HOURS SLEEP! Oh man, was that ever hard! We walked to the Spanish Steps, got to the Borghese Gardens, and then started falling sleep on a bench. We were both so tired that we didn't really take much in those first few hours. On top of that, we were wearing jeans and t-shirts, felt grimy from the flight, and it was about 40 degrees out. Hot, we were, but 'hot stuff' we were not.
Anyways, 3 hours and 45 minutes later we were able to get into our room and take a much needed shower and 2 hour nap. After the nap, we were refreshed enough to go out to seek dinner. But were we confident enough in our 'tourists that don't speak the language' skills? Turns out that yes, lack of sleep and extreme hunger will cross many levels of translation and we found a nice little restaurant that serves, you guessed it, pizza and pasta! And Wine!! That was our first drunken night in Rome. Tip? Learn to ask for the Vino Bianco de la casa. Cheap stuff, but does the job, and we never got a Rome hangover because they don't put in preservatives.
After our meal, we stumbled towards the Trevi Fountain and had a gelato. Yum, soft-serve at it's best. The Trevi Fountain was gorgeous, as everyone said it was, and totally crowded! Still, it's a great masterpiece and would recommend to anyone stumbling around the city drunk at night to go see it. Lovely and romantic (it looks good during the sober day as well :)
We stumbled back to our hotel after seeing the gorgeous fountain and fell sleep...waking up briefly at about 3:30am, but easily falling back asleep again. Jet-lag didn't seem to bother us this time...I think we were really ready to explore, 6 hours ahead or not!
Day 2? Old Rome!!! We walked to the Colosseum only to see a huge line up (inside the building)!
Word of advice, if you buy a ticket to the Colosseum, it's a joint ticket with Palatine Hill at the Roman Forum, so why not head there first and beat the crowd? That's exactly what we did. There were about 5 people in line at the Roman Forum, so we got our tickets and started to explore.
It's amazing how these ruins are situated in such a bustling city. All around you you hear the zoom of cars, the vroom of vespas, and the multi-language hum of the tourists...and yet there are these ruins sitting there quietly, hundreds of years old. So much history compared to Canada...
After 3 hours of exploring in the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, we decided to get some street meat, and then make our way to the Colosseum. It was about 1.5 hours wait if you didn't already have a ticket, so we were mentally patting ourselves on the back for being so smart. The Colosseum is another amazing structure that used to house gladiator events, even 'boat fights' when filled with water. Totally ahead of their time, those Romans. Below, you see a picture of the Colosseum....note that the walls on the floor were actually under the real floor, so they were more like tunnels. Awesome.
Back at our hotel at about 4:30pm, we again took a nap, and then went out to dinner, got tipsy, stumbled to the Trevi Fountain and then had gelato...do we see a pattern here?
Back at our hotel at about 4:30pm, we again took a nap, and then went out to dinner, got tipsy, stumbled to the Trevi Fountain and then had gelato...do we see a pattern here?Day 3? Vatican City! We took a rather winding way towards the Ponte San' Angelo (it compares to Karluv Most in Prague!!!). And I write 'winding' because we took so many tiny little streets that we thought we were lost half the time. However, J's navigation skills are quite good so when we broke free of the alleyways and buildings, the bridge was right in front of us!
Unfortunately, the Castel San'Angelo was closed as it was Monday, so we walked towards St. Peter's Square instead.
We already knew about the dress code to get into Churches in Rome, but we didn't know it was that strict. We saw the line up of people in St. Peter's Square waiting to get into the basilica and we saw the sign with the diagrams. Apparently you couldn't go in without covering your upper arms and legs. I was wearing shorts because did I mention it was about 40 degrees out? Yowza. We decided to sit off to the side in the shade and watch to see if certain 'underdressed' people got turned away. After a while we didn't see many people coming back so we went to ask the security guard if we were dressed ok. He took one look at my shorts and said 'no'...so we went to see the Sistine Chapel and Museum instead!
The line up to this took about an hour, but once inside we saw amazing things like extremely old religious paintings, wall hangings, and gorgeous ceilings!
Again, we arrived back at the hotel at about 4pm, took a nap, went to dinner, got drunk, went to the Trevi Fountain, and had gelato (at least we were consistent, but keep an eye out because pretty soon we mix things up).
Day 4 was a sort of extra day in Rome. We had followed the 2-3 day plan from Trafalger Tours and had the last day to tie up loose ends. So, I put on a knee-length skirt and had a sweater in hand, J put on pants and a nice shirt, and we made the trek back to St. Peter's Basilica. It was worth the discomfort. We even went up the 500 or so stairs up the dome to see the wonderful view of the square.
Going up and down the dome, you actually saw the walls closing in on you! They were angled just like the dome. There is an elevator you can take that will get you about 300 stairs up, but you'd still have to walk another 200. Therefore, we paid the lower fee and just walked (another word of advice, the line up is shorter if you just take the stairs since everyone wants to take the elevator).
We walked around most of the day, got back to the hotel around 3:30pm, napped, and then (wait for it), decided to just have a huge gelato for dinner! It was, afterall, our honeymoon. Was it ever good. My favourite flavour? Tiramisu and Nocciola or Hazelnut. J's? Pistachio. I must have gone through one entire bottle of Lactaid just in Rome. Cool.
The things I've mentioned aren't the only sights we saw. There was also the Tritone Fountain, the Four Fountains, The Santa Maria Maggiore Church, and the Pantheon, along with the previously mentioned Spanish Steps and the Borghese Gardens. Another great sight was the Campo Di Fiore market....where I bought a nice linen scarf....only to learn it was made in China! One of the best ideas we had was to do a simple Google search of "3 days in Rome" and we came up with a simple enough itinerary. Oh, and not knowing the language was the least of our worries. Just expect to do a lot of walking, so pack comfortable shoes.
So it's true. You can eat all the pizza, pasta, gelato you want, drink all the wine you want, and so long as you walk at least 8 hours a day, you won't gain a thing. Not that hard a diet to follow, right???
Day 5 was spent making our way to the train station and catching the Inter-city to Naples.....next up? Pompeii.
