Rome - what a beautiful city!
We went to Rome on February 19 (Thursday) and arrived home late on February 22 (Sunday). It was our first time in Rome, and in Italy, and we just loved it! It is such a beautiful city with a lot of atmosphere everywhere. And of course a lot of history almost around every corner.
We arrived to our hotel, Madison hotel, late Thursday evening and it was raining a lot then. We had planned to eat dinner in a nice restaurant but because of the heavy rain we only walked across the street to the big train station and bought a sandwich and some Pepsi and ate in our hotel room. We were a little bit afraid that the rain would continue, since that was what the weather forecast predicted, but luckily, Friday was very sunny and warm. About 20 degrees Celcius and we could walk around in t-shirts. It felt wonderful, especially since it's so cold and snowy here in Sweden. It was nice to enjoy some spring weather instead.
We started Friday morning by taking the bus to the Vatican City to meet the Pope. Well, we didn't get to meet him because you have to apply far in advance, which we didn't have a chance to do since we booked the trip only one week before it was time to go. But we saw St. Peter's Square and St. Peter's Basilica which was very impressing and beautiful. We wanted to avoid standing in long lines since we only had a few days to explore the city so we didn't go into the church because the lines were really long. For the same reason we didn't go into the Vatican Museums either, even if I really wanted to see the Sistine Chapel. But now we have a reason to go back to Rome and see these things! So, after we had admired the church and the huge square, and sent some postcards from the Vatican Post Office, we decided that we should spend as much as possible of the day outside since we didn't know what the weather would be like during the rest of our stay. We walked along the Tiber to Trastevere where we looked around a little. Then we saw the the Ponte Rotto, which collapsed in the late 16th century and the island in the Tiber, Isola Tiberina.
We then crossed the Tiber and walked towards the Palantine, passing by the big Arch of Janus. We did not go into the Palantine, instead we spent more time exploring the Roman Forum which was so beautiful and so interesting to see. After that we walked across the street to the Colosseum and waited in line to buy tickets so we could enter this impressive monument. It was really worth the entrance fee to see it from the inside, and a memorable experience. From here we took the metro to Piazza di Spagna where we looked at the Spanish Steps which were crowded with tourists. We found a very nice little restaurant not far from Piazza di Spagna where we ate lunch, outside of course since it was so warm. Janne ate pizza and I had a huge ice-cream. After our late lunch we walked to the Trevi Fountain which was also crowded with tourists. I had no idea it the fountain would be so big, it was really beautiful!
After seeing all these famous places and monuments, it was time for some shopping, so we went to the Disney Store (of course!) on Via del Corso and we also walked the famous, and expensive, shopping street Via Condotti to get back to the metro at Piazza di Spagna. Time to go back to the hotel and rest for a couple of minutes before we went back to the area around Spagna to find some food. We had read about a restaurant, Al 34, close to the Spanish Steps and decided to go there. We had to wait a while because apparently more people had read about this place! But we finally got a table outside and shared it with another Swedish couple. I ate really good pasta, and for dessert panna cotta. It was so nice to be able to sit outside until late in the evening. After dinner we walked to the subway and went back to the hotel to get some well deserved rest!
See Janne's photos from our Friday in Rome here: >>>
Saturday morning was cloudy and a little bit rainy so we decided to go to a shopping mall south of the city. We walked around there for an hour or so, but didn't find anything interesting so we went back into the city. Spent a couple of minutes at the hotel before we took the bus to Piazza Venezia where we looked at the Vittorio Emanuele II monument before we walked towards Campo de' Fiori which was a cute little square with a market. From there we went to Piazza Navona which I think was my favourite piazza in the city. Lot's of outdoor restaurants, and beautiful fountains. Next stop was the Pantheon which was beautiful and very interesting since it's about 2000 years old. The Piazza della Rotonda in front of Pantheon was also very nice, except for the fact that there was a McDonalds opposite to the Pantheon! It didn't feel like it belonged there in this historic square. After looking at Pantheon we had to try the coffee at Tazza d'Oro coffee shop which is supposed to have the best coffee in Rome. We tried the granita coffee with whipped cream, which was unusual and interesting! After the coffee it was time for more churches. My favourite was Santa Maria sopra Minerva which was extremely beautiful! But Sant' Ignazio di Logola was also very pretty with beautiful paintings in the ceiling.
After looking at these churches it was time for some ice-cream, and of course in the most famous ice cream café in Rome, Giolitti. The ice-cream was very good!! After this we walked around on Via del Corso and looked in all the shops there. When it became dark outside, we took the metro to Colosseum and took some night shots of it. My photos are not developed yet, but I hope they come out good. We then took a bus to Piazza Venezia and then another bus to Piazza Navona where we had planned to eat dinner that evening. We found a very nice restaurant, Dolce Vita, where we ate. It was so nice to be able to sit outside again, even if it did rain a little. It rained even more when it was time to leave, but we still walked all the way to Barberini where we went to Hard Rock Café to buy a shot glass for my collection. We also looked at the Fountain of the Bees which is close to the metro at Barberini. Then it was time to go back to the hotel and get some sleep.
See Janne's photos from our Saturday in Rome here: >>
On Sunday we started the day with coffee in the oldest café in Rome, Café Greco. It tasted really good! We then walked around at Via del Corso for a while, and then walked to Pantheon where we had lunch at Rotonda 6. After that we walked to the Trevi Fountain once again, and after that to Palazzo del Quirinale. We walked almost all the way back to our hotel, but decided to take the metro the last station because we were really tired then. We looked around in Termini one last time and then sat outside and waited for the transfer bus that took us back to the airport. The flight home was nice but it was late before we finally came home and could get some sleep.
See Janne's photos from our Sunday in Rome here: >>
I really want to go back to Italy soon again, I liked Rome so much, and would also like to discover other parts of the country. But I'll definitely go back to Rome, because we only had time to see ver little of everything that the city has to offer.
