Having been to nearly everywhere else in Italy we finally managed to get to Rome. Not sure why it has taken us so long, this has been Mr. Specials number one destination to visit for a long time, but I've been blocking :D Now finally his dream came true (his next dream is Greece :D ).
We went on the shoulder season, end of March and it was perfect timing! The weather was warm (not hot, I hate hot) and the crowds weren't that bad... Trevi fountain was still packed even on a rainy day but that's expected. Oh and the traffic!!!! Mamma Mia! The first day we were petrified and ran across the road following other people. By the end of our trip we were the ones paving the way for newbie tourists.
Our hotel was conveniently located near the train station and we could walk everywhere. On the first day we did get a bit lost but it was a blessing in disguise because we were looking for a church but found this huge square with fountains and a church instead.
Walking down the streets we suddenly saw a mob of people all looking up in the trees and then we heard some sort of birds making noises up in the trees. There were little parrots there, about 3 in each tree.
We nearly did not go into this museum as we're not really the museum type people but so glad we did because it had a ruined backyard :D
 |
| Insert Head |
 |
| Just a fun street scene |
Even on a rainy day the streets of centre Rome are so quaint and enjoyable to walk through
Can you believe we went for lunch just around the corner from the Trevi Fountain and it was actually good pasta :D Aaaaand not too expensive either :D We had a lunch menu: a bruschetta starter (have started doing that at home since then as well), pasta (Carbonara and spinach and ricotta Tortellini) and a desert for 13? euros.
Piazza Navona was empty on a rainy day! The only other people there at the time were mostly hustlers... :D Trying to sell all the phone accessory crap, umbrellas, trick you with the bracelets, roses etc etc etc. They do have a lot of hasslers on the streets.
Finally we got tired of being soaking wet and looked for inside things to do and found a gem! Galleria Doria Pamphilij - that is also referenced as a mini Versailles due to it's very own hall of mirrors.
The second day we reserved for the Colosseum. We had bought tickets in advance but were prepared to wait for hours in the queue as all guides tell you. It was a mayhem outside of it. "Do you need a ticket?" "Visiting today?" "Cheapest tickets here" and so on and on and on and on. Shhhhh.... already have them need to just find the entrance. There was a bit of a queue but it moved so fast and we were in in no time :)
With the Colosseum ticket you can also enter the Roman Forum which is a huge park right next to it full of more ruins. There are 2 entrances, first the obvious one just opposite where there is a HUGE queue and the other one about 5 min down the street with no queue :D Lucky we weren't too bothered getting in there to waste our time in the first queue and thought we'd just walk past (you can see most of the inside from the outside as well) and stumbled upon the other entrance. And yes although we were starving by this time still went in, because FREE :D
The last day we reserved for the Vatican City. But before we got into that there is a big fortress that needed exploring: Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant'Angelo.
Then the Vatican City where again you have people offering you tickets to get in everywhere (it's free!). They say it's skip the line and the line is hours long but.... pay about a 100 euro for 2 people for something that is free... ummmmm... not really thanks though... So we ventures out to see where exactly this free queue is and is there any point in joining or not... Yes it was huge and yes it was not really moving at all. As we are not museum people anyway we went back to the St Peter's Square and after a lot of thought and a chat with an American man who said he got teary in the Basilica, we as well decided to join the queue at about 3pm. Didn't seem that big and we only ended up waiting for an hour. And lol we got in a lot quicker than the couple right in front of us :D The very last stage of the queue is split into 2, they chose the closest one whereas we went to the furthest one and ended up getting through the security gates a lot quicker :D
There was a shop and toilets on the roof of the Basilica, just like a little village :D So cool.
Spanish steps without the flower arrangements are not as impressive as with them.
Our flight was on the afternoon which gave us plenty of time to grab lunch one last time in Rome and we found the BEST place just around the corner from our hotel! The servers were so sincerely nice, water was free, furthermore you could fill your own jug from their "fountain" and they offered us a limoncello on the house! And yes obviously the food was amazing! Wish we'd have found it sooner so we could've gone there every day :D Ristorante Nerone! Oh man now I want to go back just to that restaurant :D
Ttyl ;)
Jazzz...
No comments:
Post a Comment