Rome was a strange place. I loved exploring bits and pieces, but I wouldn’t want to return. It’s the kind of place where there’s the main sites to see, but not much beyond that. It’s not like I didn’t love the city, but I just can’t see myself returning.
Now, this is the first of many posts about my holiday. I took a massive 711 photos in the week we were away (although 53 of those were because I’d not turned screen-tap capture off…there’s many of the floor!). I’m obviously not going to show off
allllllllll the photos, but a good few of them. Plus it means I can live out my holiday as long as possible.
After arriving, napping and reviving ourselves (I don’t do early mornings!) we headed out into the evening sun. We were a three minute walk from the Colosseum so nearby some of the most beautiful anicent ruins and structures.
Our first full day in Rome was spent at the Colosseum (full dedicated post coming up!), then wandering around the Ancient area of the city before hitting up the Forum and Palatine Hill (again, another post).
We took the recommendations of a local and headed away from the bustle, up a seemingly residential road before taking a lane through the middle of a rose garden. Unfortunately the actual gardens closed a few days before and the roses were looking past their best, but I still managed to snap a few shots. We continued up the slight incline, stopping to admire a lovely intimate Italian wedding on the way.
Reaching what seemed like a carpark, we were pretty sure Fabio was barking mad as he told us to go to a door and peer through the keyhole. Turns out he isn’t mad! We then wandered round the corner to a little park, took in the view, filled our water bottle (I loved that water foundations are so widely available in Italy!) and rested in the shade…discovering my shoulders were quietly blistering under their blanket of SPF50. Damn.
The next day was our ‘religious’ day, visiting the Vatican City, avoiding selfie stick sellers, exploring the castle and generally seeing the other side of town. We got the metro there and walked back – my biggest tip is not to buy a sightseeing bus ticket as they are SO expensive, most places are walkable, and the metro is only €1.50 per journey anyway. After avoiding the rain we wandered along the river, passing some stunning buildings.
Our walk back centred around finding the Trevi Foundation. Quite frankly, we shouldn’t have bothered! We’re only glad we didn’t get up early the next day to find it…
Have you been to Rome? What did you think of the city?
