Reaching one year with your partner is an important milestone in a relationship and what better way to celebrate than a few days away in the city of Roma. I have created a little itinerary of all the very tourist break we had. It was James and I's first time away together as a couple and although things did not go as smoothly as we hoped, it was amazing.
Our hotel was quite a distance from the center of Rome, it was not exactly the greatest of areas but our room was quite snazzy and had an incredible shower which made up for it. We went back in July and the heat was nearly unbearable. We timed ourselves well and went out in the morning, came back to the hotel around midday and napped until it got a bit cooler- which most people do in warmer climates. We had prepped ourselves well, learning important Italian phrases and sun cream for my very pale boyfriend.
We arrived there in the evening, settled in and went to the cute Italian restaurant up the street. The restaurant looked like it belonged to a cowboy movie, it was very authentic. The food was all homemade, delicious and much cheaper that what you would find in the heart (which we later found out).
Day 2: They are definitely not lying when they say that the Roman underground is mental because yes, yes it is. We are often complaining about London but the Roma Metro was 100 x hotter, crowded and smelly. We took the 30 min metro journey to visit the famous Colosseum, went home because of the heat and then went to the Roman Forum, The Pantheon, admired the Italian designer shops from the outside and (nearly) climbed the Spanish Steps. Barre the metro, we had the best day exploring!
One thing I was expecting but still did not know how to react to was the pushy sellers on the streets Everywhere you go, someone will always want you to purchase a selfie stick, or a picture of the pope. They lure you in by making conversation- and boy, I love conversation- and then ask for money. I do nottttt want a selfie stick; i bought one off of amazon before I arrived thank you very much.
Day 3: We left the air con on the whole night...and because of this we were feeling terrible the next morning. We had planned to visit Vatican City, however after breakfast at our hotel, we stayed in until later. We did more exploring this day, we walked through Rome's beautiful streets and witnessed the majestic Trevi Fountain...that was covered in renovation work. Have no fear, we still got to toss a coin and make a wish.
This evening was my favourite. Me and James made our way to Piazza Novana to find dinner. Piazza Novana has just got this lively, Italian atmosphere that I loved; music, painters selling paintings, the sounds of the 3 famous fountains! We sat outside with the view of the piazza and the waiter brought our food...and glass of prosecco; wonderful dining. We danced are way back on the metro and made the long journey back to our hotel.
Day 4: We had 5 hours to explore the places we did not see..or so we thought. Seeing as though we had tickets, we took a taxi to the Vatican City. St. Peter's square was beautiful, the Museums were full of stunning intricate art. The crowds pushed as they to get to the famous Sistine Chapel to see Michelangelo's masterpiece; the Creation of Adam.
That was it. We bought one last pizza and made our way to the hotel to head back home.
We had arrived at the airport with around 2 hours to spare HOWEVER our flight operator had not informed us of our airport change. We found out as we tried to check in...and the airport we were supposed to be flying home from was an hour drive away. Frantically panicking, trying to print out our boarding passes and find taxi money- I was almost in tears. Our taxi driver was mental; Italian drivers in general are, indeed, mental but this taxi driver was on a whole other level. If it was not for this mad man, we would not have made our flight. We made sure we tipped him well. I am so thankful for James keeping his cool the whole time while I was freaking the hell out.
When we finally did get to the airport, we just laughed. 'What is life?'
