Rome

We arrived in Rome to grey skies, drizzle and much colder weather than either of us had packed for. Feeling a bit stupid in our English holidaymaker gear (shorts, sandals, sunglasses) we were shuffled onto the shuttle bus that took us to Rome Termini Train Station and from there we jumped in a taxi that took us to our digs for the next few days, a hotel/ hostel called 'Maison de Julie' which was surprisingly pleasant for 25€ a night. The manager, who we christened 'maison de julie' for want of her real name, was also very pleasant and gave us a map of Rome with some detailed routes to see all the best places- some recommendations of places to eat (her brother/ sister/ father/ husband's restaurants no doubt) and leant us an umbrella when she saw our get up. The room was big and clean, with a big comfy bed and a large window that opened onto the street. Being 'cosmopolitan young travellers'* we ate our sushi bought from Prêt at Stansted airport, before adding all the extra layers we had bought with us and heading off with the map. 

flying over Italy

and Rome

Despite my detailed itinerary of what we should do each day and exactly what time, Daniel decided we should just 'wonder' (Yorkshireman speak for wander). From the very start Daniel and I were enchanted by Rome. At the end of the Via Nazionale we stumbled upon the Column Traiana, the Forum Traiano and the Monument Vittorio Emmanuele II. Then we took a right and wandered down the Del Corso- the main shopping drag. We sheltered from the rain briefly in Zara (strictly necessary) and then began a slow stop and start tour of the Del Corso (stopping in various coffee shops) arriving finally at Piazza del Popolo, where we turned right and wandered back down the other side of the triangle back to Maison de Julie. This route actually included walking up the Spanish Steps but since I was wearing my new espadrille wedges, I was going into meltdown mode and walking up a height of steps felt like Roman torture so we didn't actually realise what they were until later. 

day 1 in the rain

That evening, having discarded said wedges for the rest of the holiday, and got some circulation going again in my feet, we got ready for dinner and headed off again following my dodgy instructions for a place to eat. We had been warned several times about how costly Rome and Venice are, and so I had perused the Guardian Travel blog and Tripadvisor to avoid paying a fortune for substandard meals. This restaurant, courtesy of 'http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2010/jul/20/eat-like-local-in-rome', Formula Uno, was situated a while away from the main hubbub of Rome and was not much to look at from the outside. Decorated with pictures of racing cars, and lots of plain wooden tables, we sat down, the only two in the restaurant at 8.30pm. I am used to the French not eating out until about 9pm and I've heard in Italy it can be even later...half 9 to 10. Danny asked him the price of a glass of wine. He shrugged. '1.50€ for a quarter carafe?' We drank 3 carafes...3 glasses each for 4.50€. Then we each ordered a pizza for 6€, and despite the fact Danny got overexcited and ordered the wrong pizza, we split them in half and shared them.. and they were without doubt the best pizzas either of us have ever eaten. For dessert we shared a plate of profiteroles, and paid as the restaurant was starting to fill up (less than 25€).

The next day dawned beautifully sunny and after coffees and pastries we made our way down to the Colloseum. In the Colloseum you can buy a ticket for the Colloseum, the Roman forum and the Palatino hill all in one. We ended up queuing for around an hour to get into the Colloseum. ('Oh yes' Danny said, about five minutes from the front of the queue, 'this is where Paul told me to go to the Forum first and buy tickets and then can skip the queue for the Colloseum'.) The Colloseum was spectacular, and one of our highlights of the trip, the Forum also beautiful but harder for us to understand the full grasp of. Both Danny and I said, one of the hardest things about Rome, is feeling like the history might be washing over you without understanding the full depth of it.

For lunch we crossed the river and wandered into the Trastevere district of Rome, recommended by Suvi and Piers, and so beautiful! The houses reminded me a little of Roussillon in France- in various reds and oranges, with boxes of flowers spilling into the street. We stopped at a little deli, and had a platter of cheese, cured meats, chilli jam and different bruschettas, plus a glass of wine each for 10€. In the afternoon we sat outside Church Saint Maria in Trastevere and had another glass of wine each in the hot sun. Dinner was another restaurant in Trastevere, a pasta restaurant (another Guardian one), where I had taglietelle with cheese and black pepper (a speciality dish of Rome). The pasta was fresh and handmade, the cheese just melt in your mouth, and it went down very nicely with another two carafes of red wine. 

Trastevere

We were just astounded by Rome, everywhere we went, everything we saw, everything we ate. The next day we had a very memorable trip to Saint Peters and the Vatican museums. We hired an audio guide for Saint Peters which did give us an interesting explanation of every statue, every painting, every tomb- though considering the vastness of Saint Peters this audio guide took about two hours to get through and unbelievably I got bored before Danny and went and sat outside on the steps. There I looked up to the top and thought of my Dad who had been on a trip to the Saint Peters at school, and got up to the top of Saint Peters only to pretend he was the pope and get whacked round the head by the teacher.

 

look Dad- absorbing the history!

The Vatican museums took another few hours to get through- the vastness and the amount to take in was amazing and slightly overwhelming. It wasn't too busy in the Vatican museums but as we got shunted along to the Sistine chapel, the crowds got greater and greater. In the corridor leading down to the chapel the walls were lined with beautiful, elaborate maps. I stopped to look at the first, of 'Aventino' and my eyes fell on the place name in the centre 'Carpentras'. Carpentras is a small town just near Apt, in the Vaucluse and the Luberon mountains. I searched downwards and found 'Apta Julia', the Roman name for Apt. Fancy little unexceptional Apt being on the first map in the Vatican museums. Of course 'Aventino', was the roman name for 'Avignon' and Avignon has a special importance in Rome, and was mentioned a few times on our tour, as being the only town that has held the papacy apart from Rome. The Sistine chapel was beautiful, and I managed to get one discreet snap of the roof before Daniel got us told off for taking photos, and then proceeded to take more!

After the rather intense morning we found a highly recommended panini place, recommended on tripadvisor, a few streets away, and teeming with locals, where we had the most delicious pesto, mozzarella, Parma ham and tomato paninis. Then we headed back towards the river to the Castle Saint Angelo- to have a coffee at the top, overlooking Saint Peters and the river, and spent the most relaxed and peaceful afternoon sitting up there in the sunshine, before wandering back to the hostel, getting lost in narrow streets. Dinner that night was pizza, still good but not as cheap. And then we were hauling ourselves out of bed for our last full day in Rome. 

In the morning we went to the pantheon, and had a glass of wine in the Piazza outside the pantheon. We sat for about two hours in beautiful sunshine before meandering along to Piazza Navona, Campo di Fiori (which I loved, because there was a flower market on), the Trevi fountain (packed out but we still managed to sit for a while in the sun) and finally back up to the Spanish steps, where we had some gelato and sat for a while listening to a very bad rendition of the Beatles. 

Around five we climbed up the Galoppatoio hill behind the Spanish steps, as the sun started to go down and hired a bike thing for an hour to go round the lovely gardens. Danny turned out to be a bit of a maniac behind the wheel, ringing the bell at anyone in the way, and then we stopped it at the top that overlooked Rome where lots of people had gathered to watch the sunset. It was a beautiful sunset, and we couldn't have asked for a better way to spend our last evening. 

If it all sounds a bit too good to be true, that's because it really was. We loved the friendly Italians, the cheap coffee, wine, ice creams and amazing pizza and pasta. It was glorious to just sit and absorb the atmosphere of Rome and meander through the streets, with blue skies and sunshine and plenty of wine. We left Rome enchanted by it and so grateful to have had the chance to go, especially in early March when the sun is not too hot, and the tourists aren't too plentiful. 

After the sunset we walked back in the dusk and packed up our bags, wondering what Venice would have to offer the next day.

*so christened, rather wistfully, by the woman that ran the B&B near Stansted we stayed at the end of our trip, who had four children under the age of 6.