A couple of notes:"Prego" is a word you will hear a lot. It seems to be a multi purpose word. You may hear someone behind a ticket desk or the hotel desk use it to summon the next person waiting. You could hear it used…Read More

A couple of notes:

"Prego" is a word you will hear a lot. It seems to be a multi purpose word. You may hear someone behind a ticket desk or the hotel desk use it to summon the next person waiting. You could hear it used as a "your welcome" if you say thank you or grazie. It is almost always the word used to answer the telephone as well. Quite handy to know!

Of course there are homeless people in Rome, just like anywhere else. There are people begging on the streets but we didn't notice anyone sleeping in doorways and even most of the main piazzas where the tourists are seemed free of beggars but we did see them. Some had disabilities and were unable to walk. They were perched or lying on low to the ground wheeled platforms, their disability sometimes displayed (i.e. twisted feet) and a cup in their hand. We also saw what appeared to be older women, wearing long full robes and a hood, on their hands and knees prostrated on the ground, forehead nearly touching the ground and holding a cup in front of them.

You couldn't imagine a more emotionally wrenching style of begging, could you? Except Graham noticed one of the "old" women stand up and he could tell it was clearly a young woman but some of the disabled people certainly weren't faking.

We say goodbye to Rome today and are to fly back to Manchester this afternoon, changing again in Gatwick and arriving in Manchester about 9:30 tonight.

We decided to book a car to the airport rather than drag our bags around train stations. A private car was only a couple of euro more than a taxi and infinitely more comfortable. It's yet another sunny day and the driver seemed to have taken us around some back streets and drove us around the Colosseum as well to get out of the city so it was nice to have a last look. At one point, though, he drove us down this little uninhabited lane and we both worried a bit that he was taking us to some field somewhere to murder us and fit us with cement shoes. Not really, but we were concerned until we realized he was taking a very odd approach to a motorway. Must have been an on-ramp that locals know about but isn't a formal one or something.

We had spectacular weather all week. I enjoyed most of the food though Graham only enjoyed a few meals we had. We did walk ourselves into comas a few days , or at least it felt like it. We always do. We saw a lot of the major sights and things on our "bucket" list even if we didn't make it to the Forums or the Gladiator school/barracks ruins. Those were probably the only things we didn't see that we wanted to but we were so tired that we probably wouldn't have enjoyed it at that point.

We saw the Colosseum and the Sistine Chapel via tours and I think it was the right way to go. As always, I loved seeing the Pieta and the Pantheon. We had a bit of cross communication sometimes with waiters and shop staff but mostly we did ok with the few words of Italian I could remember. The hotel staff were all really good to us anytime we asked for anything. The only points the hotel loses is that though the breakfast did have eggs, they weren't very good and the coffee wasn't good either though you could ask for a cappuccino and it would be made fresh for you. It also loses points for the juices which were basically just sugary coloured water.

We used taxis a few times when we were too tired to fuss with busses and they were fine, obviously more expensive than taking a bus or metro, but always efficient even though the traffic was manic and you didn't always want to watch! Yes, the traffic. Insane really. No concept of lanes, especially with the million or so scooters. They did more or less stop at traffic lights which is an improvement. The bus and the metro were easy to use and there weren't too many steps in the metro stations we used. If you're going to use them a lot, get a day or week pass.

We tried to check in at a British Airways kiosk but it only printed one of the four boarding passes we needed. We asked at the BA desk and were directed to a shorter line at the check in area and got that sorted.

My god/dess it's a pain in the arse getting around in airports and planes and such! We passed through security at Fiumincino and headed in the general direction of the gate but stopped at a cafe for lunch. We already knew what our gate was so went directly there after. This is another very large airport!

The gate area for our group of gates was quite nice with all the designer shops. The plane arriving was late so we were then late getting away, nearly an hour by the time it pulled away from the gate. Luckily, though the plane was full, apparently the one empty seat across the aisle from us was next to the wife of the guy sitting on the aisle in our row so he moved over and we had the row to ourselves. Good thing! That made it more comfortable at least.

Getting off was the usual hurry up and wait and then there's the long walk through to passport control where there's 500 people in the EU (European citizen) line (Graham's) and about 2 dozen in the "other" passports line (mine). The EU line moved very quickly. Mine did not. There were maybe 3 agents dealing with our line. One of them had the same two women almost the whole time I stood there. I kept expecting them to be taken away at gunpoint or something. I don't know what the holdup was. Another agent took off to deal with people arriving on the gocart. *sigh* Finally once the other queue cleared completely, the people in my line were ushered to the other agents.

I was asked if I was traveling with anyone and when I said I was and he was in the other line and now waiting for me, she told me since we had been traveling together, I could have gone with him!!! Agggh! How were we supposed to know?

We had to exit the whole works and go back through check in, meaning more security. This time there was hardly anyone there so we sailed through. We then came into the lounge and found a restaurant and had a meal. Graham finally had the full English breakfast he'd been dreaming of all week!

Thankfully we had lots of time between flights so the late arrival and long queue in Passport control didn't really worry me. On the ground in Manchester, we catch a shuttle bus to a new car rental "village" and then picked up a few groceries for the next dayat a 24 hour Tesco before going home.

Rome was great. Will we go back? Probably not but we would like to go to Florence some day.    Close

Today (Nov. 9) is a gruelling 3 hour tour in the Vatican museums. We slept in this morning and didn't get moving until mid-morning. We walked to a Metro to take it to the Vatican where we are later to meet the tour group. We…Read More

Today (Nov. 9) is a gruelling 3 hour tour in the Vatican museums.

We slept in this morning and didn't get moving until mid-morning. We walked to a Metro to take it to the Vatican where we are later to meet the tour group. We skipped breakfast and had an early lunch to fortify ourselves for the long tour through the museums and St. Peter's.

We were early for the tour meeting spot in Piazza di Risorgimento and decided to have gelato and sit in the sunny square. The gelato was beautifully creamy and the sun was warm. The square is just outside the walls of the Vatican City which is a state/country of its own. If we had been visiting anywhere in it beside the museums and basilica, we would have to go through passport control. I believe the official name of the country is the State of the Vatican City.

We met our group of about two dozen ended up being split into two, our group was guided by Sussana and the tour was given in Spanish and English. We had another of those radio thingys with a single earbud which worked better than the phone style receivers we used at the Colosseum.

We walked to the entrance halls of the museums where Sussana had the tickets printed. Up a flight of marble stairs out into a courtyard, We stood there for about a half hour while she explained the highlights of the Sistine Chapel and some of the more important panels along the sides including one or two by Boticelli, and some by (Perugino) one of which is very important as he was the first to use perspective in a painting.

She then talked about Michelangelo and the history and story behind his painting the chapel ceiling and the Last Judgement. It's interesting to find out the way the frescos are created (wet plaster, outline from a "cartoon" etched into holes, then filled in with paint). Michelangelo did the first three panels of the ceiling with one format, scenes from the story of Noah and the Ark but realized that from the floor the figures in the panels looked too small so he did the rest with fewer people and larger so they would be seen better from below. The last few panels were done without the cartoon outline, just straight painting onto the plaster. The ceiling panels are all Old Testament stories, no references to the Christian era at all.

Before we get to the chapel, we have to walk quite a long way, through several large galleries. A couple also have little gift shops along the side. We also ducked into one room that had high ceilings and was completely covered in painted scenes. It was very impressive. We weren't able to go into the Rafael rooms though. I guess it's just not part of the tours which are mainly to get you through to the Sistine and out again. There are 17 km of galleries and museums and I'm sure it would do you in trying to see it all in one day.

Finally we come to the main event. The Sistine Chapel. By now it's 4:30 and the light outside is fading into night. The windows in the chapel are blocked and only indirect light shows inside saving the paint from deterioration. For the first 500 years, this was used regularly as a church and centuries of smoke, candlelight, incense, oil lamps and people had coated the painting with soot and dirt. A Japanese company paid millions in the 1980s to have the artwork cleaned and it took something like 16 years.

The chapel is dim inside, partly because of the lateness in the day. We had 20 minutes to look around. You are not supposed to take photos even without a flash. That always annoys me because if there's no light, there should be no damage caused. You can take pictures elsewhere in the museums without a flash. Anyway, even though I shouldn't have, I still managed to sneak some stealth photos.

Our feet, legs and back were really taking a punishing through all this and we still had to walk all the way back up to the entrance/exit. We did get to walk down the spiral ramp/staircase though, which was neat.

After that, the tour is done and we had to walk all the way around to the Basilica on our own. We had to go through a security x-ray check and by this time I was a wreck. I told Graham to go ahead since I'd seen it and he hadn't and I'd catch up. By the time I dragged myself to the stairs to go in, he was already at the top. A guard noticed me and I must have looked pretty bedraggled because he offered me the chance to use a lift. The problem with that was that I didn't know where I would be inside and Graham wouldn't find me so I struggled up the stairs which were mercifully not steep.

The Basilica closes at 6 and we only had about 15 minutes by this time. We made sure to see the Pieta, my favourite ever. She's right by the entrance. We didn't go all the way to the Bernini bronze canopy but could see it. The ceilings are very high and the decoration is all very lavish mosaics, not paintings, plus all the statues.

It's the largest Christian church in the world and there are markings on the floor from the entrance showing you where the edges of some of the other large cathedrals and basilicas would reach, including St. Paul's London and the Duomo in Florence. I forgot to look for the markings to show Graham. He's not religious at all and though it's quite a sight to see, thought it was an awful lot of expense and effort to go to in order to build something dedicated to something that doesn't exist!

We left the building just before the six o'clock bells rang and saw a changing of the Swiss Guard in their colourful uniforms. When I say "changing of the guard", don't expect an elaborate ceremony like you might see in London. It's just 3 of them changing their posts with a bit of marching and such. We were there at the right time to see it and got some pictures.

I wasn't even sure I could feel my feet except for the pain radiating from them. Taxi time again. We saw a stand at the back of St. Peter's Square. One taxi drove up and we tried to get in but a group of people pushed past us insisting they were waiting first. Fine. Another one came and a woman grabbed that out from under us too. When I third one came, I was ready to fight for it. We didn't have to and got in.

After a rest of about an hour, we decided to go back to the restaurant down the road where we had that delicious steak. I enjoyed my meal just as much as the first time we'd eaten there, though Graham still thought the steak the other night was not to be bested. I made sure I had room for dessert this time and it was a little torte of ricotta and pears with a powdery top, presented on a plate with chocolate drizzles and a bit of whipped cream on the side. Heaven!   Close

I don't know about footloose but we certainly are foot sore! We "did" the Colosseum today, Nov. 7, and seemed to involve ourselves in more walking than necessary. I don't know what it is but we either get off a bus at the wrong spot…Read More

I don't know about footloose but we certainly are foot sore! We "did" the Colosseum today, Nov. 7, and seemed to involve ourselves in more walking than necessary. I don't know what it is but we either get off a bus at the wrong spot or have to walk extra to find our destination.

This morning we headed to find the bus stop. It had a stop for every number except the one we wanted, naturally, though we saw the bus we wanted go by a few times. We waqlked up the road. Surely we'd come across the stop eventually. "Eventually" was the accurate word. It probably wasn't far in the grand scheme of things but it was farther than we thought we'd have to go. Once on the crowded bus, our noses pressed up against the front door, we spotted the stop at the place we started. For some reason, neither of us saw it though we were right beside it.

We knew the bus was heading to Piazza Venezia which was a bit of a walk to the Colosseum so I thought we should get off at the stop before. Which turned into just as much walking. We went down a flight of stairs and around near the Trajan Markets and ruins of the Trajan Forums. We probably wouldn't have had as good a view of that had we stayed on the bus so that was good to see at least.

The column of Trajan has a relief spiralling up to the top with illustrations carved into it of all Trajan's victories. The markets were just that, shops but they were multi levels of shops, very modern! They were up as high as six storeys in some parts and contained offices and warehouses as well. There is a museum on the other side of it, we walked past that when we first got off the bus.

It was still a bit of a walk to the Colosseum from there and it's really warm today with hardly a cloud in the sky. We booked the tour online so we buzzed through the reservation line, got our tickets and had a 15 minute wait for the guide. The tour we took included the hypogeum (basement level) and the third level in addition to the main stuff.

The guide was quite good though we did find the radio devices a little hard to make out at times. Booking these tours is the only way you get to go down under and see a bit of the underbelly of the Colosseum where they kept the cages and props and all the mechanics for pushing people and animals and stage bits up into the stadium.

I managed to get up the steps from the basement and barely managed the steeper stairs up to the second level. I didn't think I'd get up to the third level so I stayed put and Graham went up and took pics from there.

The tour ended after that. We were both tired and thirsty and exited the structure and tried to decide where to go next. We walked around away from the direction we'd come and there were a string of restaurants there. We knew it would be pricey and we shouldn't have gone into one but we did. We ordered burgers but if that patty came from a cow, then the cow had feathers and clucked. The waiter said he'd ordered the one we wanted but I don't think the cook got the message. It was ok but I'm pretty sure it wasn't beef.

Did we have the energy to go tramping around the Forum? One sign pointed us to the right for an entrance which seemed to indicate we'd have to climb the Palatine Hill before getting to the Forum. I was sure there was another entrance around the corner and there was. But it was blocked off. We were both done in and I was damned if I was going to walk all that way back around. It was starting to get late and we'd not have a lot of time inside before they closed anyway.

Finding a bus stop was another problem. We walked into Piazza Venezia in front of the big white "wedding cake" building, the Vitorio Emanuelle II monument, and couldn't see where the busses stop and the one we wanted seemed to be coming from around a corner. Expecting we'd have to walk another long way, I gave up and we headed to the taxi stand

Into the cab and a fairly short ride back unlike yesterday's marathon in traffic. But before hitting the room, I really wanted a beer so we went into the hotel bar and had a Peroni and it hit every spot there was! We tried one of the other neighbourhood restaurants tonight, Taverna Flavia (see review). Food was pretty good though last night's was better and cheaper.

November 8

The theme for part of today was Horror. From "real" horror to fake horror! The real horror was the museum and crypt of the Capuchin Monks at Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccin on Via Veneto. (see review in this journal) The main attraction is the crypts, decorated elaborately with the bones of thousands of Capuchin monks over several centuries. It's eerie and kind of unsettling really. There are even what appears to be skeletons in the brown hooded monks' robes surrounded by bones and skulls.

Next order of business was the Fake Horror. It was too far to walk to our next destination so we took the Metro for the first time. It was pretty simple to use. The signs were clear for which platform you needed since we knew the stop we wanted. We got tickets from the machine and went through the barriers. I asked at a news kiosk which direction for Via Gracchi and headed off.

Graham is a big fan of horror movies and in Rome there is a shop owned by Italian horror director Dario Argento called Profundo Rosso which is also the name of one of his films. The shop itself is small and contains pretty much the usual sort of thing you might find in any sci-fi fantasy themed shop. The cool thing is that underneath is an exhibit of movie memorabilia from Argento's films. It's dark and shadowy, with the exhibits lit in lurid lights and there's a sound track to describe each "cell" and which film it relates to. It's gruesome, but then it would be, wouldn't it? It was well put together, though and only took about 20 minutes to see everything and take some photos.

Time to find somewhere for lunch. We walked towards a shopping street called Cola di Rienzo and found a small cafe called Taverna di Luisa on a side street. They had a fixed price menu for 10 euro with bruschetta, pizza, dessert and water included. The pizza was lovely, crispy thin crust and really big.

Over to the shopping street next. We shopped and browsed and picked up a few things, some for gifts and some for ourselves. We walked down to the Tiber River and wandered along it until we came to Castel St. Angelo, the fortress that is best known as the stronghold of some of the medieval popes. The area in front of it is thronged with both independent hawkers pushing more cashmere scarves and all kinds of other things, and a little market stall area with legitimate vendors that allow credit card payment as well as cash. I did find some nice things there and bought a handful of Christmas presents.

I'm not as worn out as I was yesterday but I still have sore feet and legs. We got bus tickets from a machine and found the right stop. The next bus was only about 10 minutes' wait and we even got seats! As the bus wound its way through the streets, it got quite full.

Something we've noticed, though we buy tickets and validate them on board in the machine, people are getting on the bus, not just at the front but at the rear exits and are not paying or punching tickets. I don't know if they have passes or are just taking chances. We weren't about to. Don't want the Italian SWAT teams swooping down and tossing us in the dungeons of Castel Sant'Angelo for not paying for a bus ticket!

We even managed to get off at the right stop this time. We stopped off at an old patisserie just around the corner from the hotel to get take out tiny coffees and pastries. We had a rest and then we decided to go to the Hard Rock Cafe for our evening meal, by taxi. It's not that far but we were tired of walking for today.    Close

We left Manchester very early and security queues were long and bothersome. I found myself in the middle seat both times which was Bad Thing #1 but then, The man sitting next to me and his wife across the aisle were moved to where they…Read More

We left Manchester very early and security queues were long and bothersome. I found myself in the middle seat both times which was Bad Thing #1 but then, The man sitting next to me and his wife across the aisle were moved to where they could sit together so at least we could spread out and it was a bit more comfy.

We got into Rome about 2:30 and trekked our way through the airport to where the train station is. I'm sure I saw a sign that said there was a regional train alternative to the more expensive express but the machines didn't show it nor did the rather rude man at the ticket counter admit it either. I'm not entirely confident but it seemed we didn't have a choice and spent the 32 euros for the two tickets. It takes about 35 minutes into Rome Termini from the airport.

We took a taxi because we were tired of dragging our bags around even though we only had carry on luggage. The hotel, Bailey's Hotel isn't too far from the main train station and is on a narrow one way street, Via Flavia. Our room is on the top floor next to the tiny elevator but we don't hear a thing from it as there's a little corridor into the room from the door. Nice large room and working wifi!

We headed out to see if we could find something to eat. It's close to 5 and restaurants close for a while and reopen in the evenings. We did find a little place that had some sandwiches, a pasta dish and a burger and a few other things that could be reheated and we had that since we were starving though it was hardly a "foodie" welcome to Rome!

We continued to walk as it got dark and headed towards the Spanish Steps. Graham wasn't impressed. To be fair, it doesn't look like much from the top, it's better from the bottom with the stairs rising in front of you and no, it's not one of the WOW sights of Rome but it *is* one of the famous views. At least, from the bottom. We stood at the top for a bit, glancing at some of the artist renditions of various Roman views and watched the people and then got a cab back to the hotel. We relaxed in the room for a bit and then went to the hotel bar for a couple of glasses of Vino Rosso to cap off the day!

The next day, The sun was out and it stayed out ALL DAY! This is epic for us. Everywhere we go we generally get maybe one day of sunshine and it's forecast nice all week! I can't get over it! To make sure we saw as much of Rome as possible under sunny skies, we thought it would be a good day to do the open top bus tour. I know they're a bit expensive but we like them.

First, breakfast in the hotel. Not bad. They had lots of cold items, including bakery goods, and a big pot of scrambled eggs which was nice though the eggs tended to be a little rubbery. The juice was little more than sweet coloured water, though.

We walked to Piazza Barberini where we could catch the tour bus. At the Termini station stop there were vendors milling around beside the bus trying to sell scarves, hats and even bottles of water to the tourists on the bus.

The tour covered all the main sights though it's not always easy taking photos from the top of the bus. The bus is either shaky or you get the bus rails in the way or what you want is on the other side and then you just get the backs of the heads of the other tourists in your pictures!

That's ok. It is a good overview of the sights. At one point the bus stopped and stayed there quite some time. It seemed to be an accident though not sure if the bus was actually involved or stuck behind one. A police officer finally arrived, blew his whistle and things seemed to get moving shortly thereafter.

We got off the bus a stop before the one where we got on because I knew the Trevi fountain was nearby. We found the fountain and took photos but Graham didn't want to throw the traditional coin in because he said there are other places he wants to see first and may not want to come back to Rome! He's not counting it out but was just hedging his bets! I've been three times now so I'm not bothered.

We elbowed our way out of the crowds and took a side street away from there, stopping to look at some of the souvenir shops and for coffee. I knew that the Piazza Colonna was along Via del Corso nearby as we'd seen it from the bus earlier . The column is that of Marcus Aurelius, showing scenes from his campaigns, and dates from 163 C.E. The statue on the top and the fountain under are from the 16th century.

From there we found ourselves in the nearby Piazza Montecitorio where there is an Egyptian obelisk which was apparently brought to Rome by Augustus.

On the outskirts of that piazza, we saw a very cool store called Eclectica where you had to buzz a doorbell to go in. it was filled with all sorts of memorabilia and antiques. There were even medals and items dating to WWII but with a difference, there was a lot of it relating to the Nazis and Mussolini. You don't see as much of that elsewhere, not that I've seen but it is a part of Italy's heritage and history.

Just past there was a nice little wine bar and we decided to have lunch there. It was a leisurely lunch as is traditional in Italian restaurants. We had Italian beer, and I had a plate of pasta carbonara, my favourite. (Enoteca Capranica, see review)

Finally, we came to the Piazza della Rotonda, where the Pantheon is. It's one of the oldest Christian churches in Rome and was a pagan temple before that. The dimensions of it are beautifully perfect, as high in the middle as the diameter of the dome. Though the interior has been redesigned over time, the marble floors still date from ancient Rome. The church itself is circular as well with a portico outside lined with columns. It's one of my favourite buildings in Rome (see review)

Walking from there along the cobbled streets, we looked at some market stalls and I bought a triple print that I can frame as one large picture. We found Piazza Navona next and walked around there a bit, taking pictures of the big fountain, Bernini's famed Fountain of Four Rivers, and sampling amazing gelato! There are a lot of artists set up in the square along with entertainers. One guy was sitting in a chair, his head obviously under the jacket but a hat and sunglasses were balanced over that and it looked like an invisible man sitting there. Another couple was dancing the tango. The piazza is lined with restaurants and there's a church on one side. This is another busy and popular spot at night.

By now we are flagging a bit and though we found our way to a street where we might have been able to catch a bus, we couldn't figure out where the bus stop was so we ended up in another taxi. The traffic was rush hour strong and it took a while to get back to the hotel. I'm not entirely sure the cabbie didn't take a round about way but perhaps it would not have made a difference no matter which route he took at that time of day. We got back in one piece, that's the main thing and I feel much better after a shower and rest.

We went out again later to find a nice restaurant, one we saw mentioned in a Trip Advisor review of the hotel actually, though they didn't put the name of it in. They said "left out of the hotel, down about 70 yards over on the right is xxxxxxxx" obviously meaning to put the name of it in after and didn't get to it. We went down the road and decided on one of two that were side by side. It was a good choice! We'd had steaks that were some of the best I've ever had. The "primo" course of soup was served in something the size of a small mixing bowl and it was really good but there was far too much of it. Definitely a meal to write home about!    Close

Italy is famed for it's gelato. We might call it "ice cream" but it's so much more than that. It's richer and creamier without being heavier. The flavours are more intense and most of the gelateria make theirs by hand, churning goodness into every lick…Read More

Italy is famed for it's gelato. We might call it "ice cream" but it's so much more than that. It's richer and creamier without being heavier. The flavours are more intense and most of the gelateria make theirs by hand, churning goodness into every lick of it!

We were in Rome for 5 days though only managed to get to two places. We did have some for dessert at one or two restaurants but it doesn't quite seem the same as sitting in a square by a beautiful fountain in the sun or as the sun is going down, with a cone or a cup of gelato in your hand. You may pay more in the hot tourist areas such as Piazza Navona or Rotunda but even then, it doesn't matter because it's all part of the Rome experience.

Most of the shops I've seen are small, just room enough for the counter and one or two people. The rest line up out the door it seems. You can usually choose at least 2 flavours or more. Some shops sell it by cups of varying sizes and you can fit in as many scoops as you can, usually 2 or 3 at least and the fun is in picking various flavours and seeing if they all work together.

We had gelato from a small outlet in Piazza Navona. It wasn't the more famed Tre Scalini, which is also a restaurant, it was just a tiny storefront across from the big church and Fountain of Four Rivers, I seem to recall. We also tried some from a shop called Blue Ice which is a chain of gelateria. The one we went to is close to the Piazza del Risorgemento outside the Vatican walls at the end of Via Ottaviano. Other famed locations are near the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain, naturally, because of the throngs of tourists that visit there but you can find a gelato shop anywhere in Rome easily. And you should.    Close

Overall I found the public transport system in Rome was extremely good. Our accommodation was just outside of the city centre, so it was necessary to get a bus and then the metro into the centre. The buses ran reasonably regularly, approximately one…Read More

Overall I found the public transport system in Rome was extremely good.

Our accommodation was just outside of the city centre, so it was necessary to get a bus and then the metro into the centre.

The buses ran reasonably regularly, approximately one every 20 minutes (as there were two routes we could choose from), and the bus stopped at the metro station. Again the metro was a regular service, approximately every 5 minutes.

Paying for the bus was somewhat different to England. Here we buy a ticket from the driver as we get on, and I was expecting something similar. However, when the first bus we used arrived, everyone crowded on, and there was no way to get to the driver. I did panic somewhat that we would find ourselves fined at the other end for travelling without a ticket, but when I finally spoke to the driver he was unconcerned, and just pointed to the metro and said to buy a ticket there. Tickets were either by the hour, daily, 3 daily or weekly.

As the holiday wore on I noticed that only rarely did people put their tickets in the validation machine on the buses, and most people just jumped on and off without even getting tickets out of their wallets.

The metro was slightly more payment conscious, there were turnstiles at every station. Although I did see a few people jumping the stiles. There were two types of metro trains, some clearly old trains which were covered in graffiti and had no air conditioning, just opening windows. And new trains which were clean and air conditioned. Begging was rife on the metro, either by pregnant women or children playing accordions. However, they weren't persistent beggars, they put their hand out and walked on at the shake of a head.

WORD OF WARNING: I was almost pick pocketed at one of the stations, a boy of around 12/13 kept getting in my way as we were trying to board the train, I thought at first he was trying to get back to his parents as it was busy and people were pushing everywhere. However, as I looked downward he snatched his hand away, and I noticed my bag had been unzipped. Luckily my purse was still there, a few seconds later and it would have been gone. The boy jumped off the train just as the doors closed, and I saw him meeting up with a group of other boys his age.

At the moment, part of the metro A line is under refurbishment, so when we went on our trip to the Vatican we had to leave the metro and use the buses which had been put on. This wasn't as easy as it sounds as only one bus was being used at any given time, so the queue was huge and as soon as the bus doors opened the world and his wife charged to get on. This meant we were packed like sardines for the first part of the journey, eventually as people got off it was possible to breathe again. The second problem was deciding where to get off, on the metro it was clear which station we needed to get off at, but I had no idea which bus stop to use. Eventually I decided that a lot of people would be visiting the Vatican, so decided to alight when the most people got off. Luckily that worked.   Close

Rome was never a place I was dying to go to. However, when looking at holidays for this year, Rome was cheap for when my boyfriend and I wanted to go and was easy to get to from East Midlands Airport as I live in…Read More

Rome was never a place I was dying to go to. However, when looking at holidays for this year, Rome was cheap for when my boyfriend and I wanted to go and was easy to get to from East Midlands Airport as I live in Nottingham.

== Getting there and first impressions ==
From East Midlands Airport, flying with Ryanair cost us roughly £50 each for return tickets. Although Ryanair don’t have the best reputation, they have been fine each time I have flown with them and their airfares are extremely cheap. Being a budget airline, Ryanair fly to the smaller Ciampino airport in Rome. From here, it takes roughly 40 minutes to get into the city center and buses cost about €4 each way. Getting to and from Rome, both from the UK and the airport is extremely easy and stress free.

The bus drops you off at Termini Station where you get your first real experience of Rome. The area isn’t very nice, there are people everywhere trying to force you to buy things and generally, is not the nicest thing to have to deal with. Termini Station is massive and has three different sides to it. The streets aren’t named very well in this area so if you are walking anywhere from here, just figuring out which way to go can be difficult. As we began to walk around, there was a strong smell of wee in a lot of streets and we realised just how rough this area was. My first impression of Rome was not a good one.

== Where to stay ==
We stayed in a B&B not too far away from Termini Station – about a 10 minute walk away. Due to not being right in the city center and near all of the tourist attractions, the B&B was very reasonably priced and cheaper than anywhere else I had looked at. Hotels in the city center can cost you a fortune and some didn’t look very nice at all. I would highly recommend looking for somewhere near a metro station as we did, as you will need to pay to use it anyway and if you stay near one of the further out stops, it will make your accommodation much cheaper.

== Transport ==
Rome’s metro system is extremely easy to use. There are only two lines to follow, red and blue, so it would be really hard to get lost. If you need to switch lines, you can do so at the main station, Termini Station and I found that getting anywhere by metro took 15 minutes maximum. Tickets for the metro can be bought at all stations or from tobacconists around the city. We bought a 3 day ticket which also covered bus use and this cost us €16 each. However, we didn’t use the buses at all as they seemed far too confusing. There are lots of bus stops all over the city but as we didn’t understand where they all went etc., we figured it would be easier just to stick to the metro.

It seems as though so many locals drive in Rome. I wouldn’t recommend this as a tourist. Drivers in Rome don’t appear to pay any attention to proper crossings and seem to go wherever they want really. There were so many times when we began to cross a road and a car would come zooming around the corner even though the lights told us we could cross. I didn’t imagine crossing a road could be so dangerous.

== Eating out ==
As we were only in Rome for 3 full days, we didn’t get the chance to eat at too many restaurants. Some helpful advice though is to look for places that aren’t close to tourist attractions. Walk a couple of streets further away and you will find places that are much better priced. Restaurants near tourist attractions are extremely overpriced and not worth the money. One restaurant we found which was exceptional in both price and service was Caffe Leonardo. This restaurant is around the corner from the Spanish Steps and you can read about it in full in another of my reviews. The restaurant served amazing, authentic Italian food for very reasonable prices. If you want to play it safe though, the city does have big chains like McDonalds and Burger King. We did go to Hard Rock Café while in Rome as I had never been to one before and we were starving when we walked past it. Hard Rock Café wasn’t any more expensive than other places we had eaten at and the service and food, again, was fantastic.

Strangely, we saw so many Chinese restaurants in Rome but that was generally in the area which our B&B was in. There are also many smaller shops which sell a lot of baguettes and sandwiches which are great value for money and easier if you want to eat something on the go. We did this one day and managed to sit somewhere with a great view and take in some of the sun.

== Attractions ==
Obviously, one of the biggest and most famous attractions in Rome is the Colosseum. We paid to have a guided tour of this amazing building and it was well worth the extra money. I would highly recommend doing this and getting the most out of your trip. Guides from tickitaly.com cost around £30 but include entrance to the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. This will save you paying again for the two latter areas. The guide lasts 3 hours but you gain access into the lower and top levels of the Colosseum which you do not get with a normal ticket. At the end of our tour, our guide also gave a 30 minute tour of the Roman Forum which is also better than just walking around on your own as the different building are explained. The Colosseum was the most amazing place I visited while in Rome and should be on the top of your list of things to do.

The Trevi Fountain was one of my favourite places to visit in Rome. The fountain is close to the Barberini metro stop although about a 10 minute walk from here. The fountain is constantly surrounded by a lot of people, filling the steps in front of it. The fountain has a story where if you throw in a coin, it will guarantee your return to Rome so if you visit here, you will see many people doing this. During the day, the fountain is pretty but I would advise you to also go back at night. The fountain is fully functional and at night the flowing water is lit up, making it such a stunning view.

The Vatican is a usual must on lists of things to do in Rome. If you want to see St. Peter’s Basilica, you need to get there extremely early. We headed into St. Peter’s Square at about 9am and there was already the longest queue I had ever seen. The line does move quite quickly but expect a wait of a minimum of about an hour. The view from St. Peter’s Square is stunning in itself so if you don’t want to head inside or visit the Vatican Museums, this is worth doing just on its own. Be warned, girls have to have their shoulders covered (no spaghetti vests) or you will be refused entry to all areas.

Somewhere not as popular is the Borghese gardens. There is also a big villa and some small museums in the area so the gardens are not the only thing to see. To get here, head to the metro stop for the Spanish Steps and it is signposted from inside the station. The gardens are vast and extremely beautiful. You can rent small golf carts to ride around the grounds which is nice because you will be shaded. In the middle of the gardens sits a fountain with a large pond like area surrounding it. We sat here for a long time, taking in the view and sitting with our feet in the water.

While there is much more to do in Rome, these were some of the best things I did while there. There are plenty of shopping areas, cute piazzas and all kinds of weird and wonderful shops and streets to explore here.

== Overall ==
We visited Rome for 3 days and this was enough time for me. The heat at the end of June made it difficult to be out all day and it was really tiring. I would advise going during a slightly cooler time of the year so that you can really make the most of the city. While I liked Rome, I did not fall in love with it. .    Close

I didn't feel I could begin a review of the different components of my trip to Rome and how they rates without first giving an overview of my general experience of Rome itself. In my experience it's a highly underrated city (for all it's…Read More

I didn't feel I could begin a review of the different components of my trip to Rome and how they rates without first giving an overview of my general experience of Rome itself. In my experience it's a highly underrated city (for all it's history and grandeur) and I wanted to share a little of my own feelings about the place that has become one of the golden, shining moments in my treasure trove of travelling memories.

I ended up on my honeymoon in Rome completely by accident. My wedding was originally set to be in Malta and the honeymoon was going to compile of a ferry ride to Sicily and a week spent there in the hills of Taormina.

However - with some of the mishaps common to wedding planning and guest arrangements - I soon found myself having a Scottish highland wedding instead - with a ticket to Malta that seemed somehow irrelevant. On a whim, my husband and I decided to save the journey to Malta for another time and change the flight destination to somewhere else we'd never been. Though Venice and Florence had always been highest on my Italian wish list - for whatever reason - we found ourselves rebooking flights to Rome.

Perhaps this was down to the cheapness of the flights (from London they were, indeed very very cheap). I then went on to plan the rest of my wedding and time in Sicily - thinking of the 4 days in Rome as a mere detour before the trip to see some of the most important sights and meet up with a handful of European friends we hadn't seen in some time.

Looking back - I can now remember quite clearly that I was all but dreading the Roman bit. I was desperate to see the coliseum, and some of mainland Italy which I had never yet walked, as well as the Sistine Chapel. But Rome itself I had heard was dirty, busy extremely Italian (suggesting this was not necessarily a good thing), hostile and vastly overcrowded with tourists. A part of me was looking forward to getting past it to the rural quiet of Sicily.

I may never have been so wrong in my appraisal of a trip. I will be writing the Sicily review later - so there's no reason to go into it in depth here - but I will just say that whilst the people and atmosphere of Sicily left me completely cold - I was warmed to a radiant hue in the delights of Rome. From the moment we landed I felt all but at home, and my experience there was such that at the end of the four days I didn't want to leave. I spent much of my time wandering the beautiful golden streets wondering how difficult it would be to move there - and gave my camera a workout the likes of which it had never seen.

It is true - it's crowded with tourist - but only at the most touristy places. The Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain are a nightmare if you want the real experience of Rome...we visited them extremely briefly and then disappeared once again along a side street and breathed the deep sight of enjoyment and contentment that we found in the Eternal City. By all means - see the sights (I will review them individually) but the very best thing to see in Rome is Rome itself. What an amazing, grand city it remains - and perhaps what I was most surprised by what the welcome we received from it's citizens. Everyone was pleasant and civil - (with the exception of the underground which I will also review) and with very very few exceptions both tickled and impressed when we attempted to speak their language. Our attempts (despite months of preparation) were often a mess - but they almost always brightened and appreciated it nonetheless. Those who spoke English (which were most of them) immediately helped us along or let us know that English was OK. And those who didn't jumped in with happy gesticulations so that we could try to understand one another.

I feel like I must be overstating it - and I'm sure others must have had a very different experience - but looking back I remember time after time of stopping in little cafes, restaurants, shops on side streets and again and again this was the case. The little area north of Vatican city which was mostly residential was where we spent much of our time - and it welcomed us with open arms. Each night we walked back along darkened streets with our fellow Romans to the apartment we all shared, we felt like we were walking home. It was a glorious feeling to feel at home in a city such as Rome.

The expensiveness of Rome is a tricky one as well. Whilst the flights there can be extremely cheap - hotels are outrageously expensive. We almost had to cut the trip short due to the cost of hotels. However once you are there its not an expensive place at all. the big sights and museums are pricey - but restaurants and cafes off the main tourist trail are very reasonable indeed. And you can take your pick of places to have a beautiful cappuccino and pastry breakfast for about 2 euros.

Cabs are pricey - but you walk over most of Rome with no problems at all. We took a bus in from the airport (reasonably priced) and one time took the underground with our bags to the other side of town - but apart from that our feet carried us everywhere we wanted to go comfortably.

Pickpockets are renowned for being bad in Rome (though can you think of a big city where they don't say that??) Though with the exception of the underground we had no problems. (The man standing next to us was almost robbed as he got on the train - he managed to push the pickpocket off the train before it set off...he was a big guy...) However I would highly recommend being very vigilant at all of the main tourist places. There were a few groups at the Vatican museum who seemed like they were much more interested in what the tourists were doing than in seeing the museum. And another friend of ours who was in the city the week after we were were robbed whilst at the Coliseum. So you should be aware - but also don't let it ruin your enjoyment of an otherwise beautiful and welcoming city.
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Mad Jack’s—we went here on our arrival evening. We were hungry and went to the first restaurant we saw. It was ok, but nothing special—I wouldn’t recommend it. I had margarita pizza and my husband had pasta with walnut cream sauce.…Read More

Mad Jack’s—we went here on our arrival evening. We were hungry and went to the first restaurant we saw. It was ok, but nothing special—I wouldn’t recommend it. I had margarita pizza and my husband had pasta with walnut cream sauce. In hindsight, we should have kept looking for restaurants as there were many other good ones nearby. We didn’t even know the name of it was Mad Jack’s until after we sat down—if we had seen that we probably wouldn’t have sat down in the first place!

Angelino Ai Fiori- Although this looked like a pretty touristy restaurant, it had some great pizza! I had the four cheese and my husband had artichoke pizza. It was my husband’s favorite pizza of the trip and my second favorite. I thought our waiter was pretty funny too—my husband was trying to pronounce something in Italian, and butchered it. And the waiter looked at him and said no, no, no, Italian is a beautiful language!

Asino Cotto- I had the filet mignon parmesan style with potatoes and my husband had sea bass ceviche and gnocchi Roman style. All were delicious.

Café Risorgimento (?)- I had ravioli and my husband had spaghetti. Both were ok, but nothing special.

Il Portico- We loved this restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto. It had a nice ambience and delicious food. The tables were pretty close together, but that fostered us to talk to our neighbors and get some great tips! We had an appetizer of the mozzarella fritte. I had tortellini and my husband had pasta with mushrooms. We also had a half carafe of delicious house white wine.

Nonna Betta- another great restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto. I had lasagna and my husband had pumpkin fritters with couscous and pasta with sea bass.

There were a couple more restaurants, but I can’t remember their names or much about them, so I don’t think they were very good!
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I had been to Rome a few times before, but my husband had never been. We spent most of our time visiting the most popular, must see tourist sites. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, because I realized how much…Read More

I had been to Rome a few times before, but my husband had never been. We spent most of our time visiting the most popular, must see tourist sites. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, because I realized how much of my previous visits I didn’t remember (since it had been 12 years!).

We did not arrive our hotel in Rome until about 5 pm and were exhausted from our trip. We were hungry so went to the first restaurant we saw (big mistake!). After dinner, we walked around a little, then went back to the hotel to go to sleep early.

On our first full day we walked through the Circus Maximus surrounded by hundreds (maybe a couple thousand) of people who were doing the Susan G Komen walk. That was an interesting site and I didn’t know they had those internationally.

Next we visited the Colosseum. Unfortunately it was Sunday and very crowded. I knew that we should have purchased the Roma Pass before going to the Colosseum, because we’d be able to skip the line. But since it was Sunday the travel agencies were closed so we couldn’t purchase it ahead of time. So we waited in the line for about an hour to get in. So I suggest buying the Roma Pass first thing to avoid this. Next up was the Palatine Hill and the Forum. There was not much of a line here and we walked right in.

After lunch we stopped by the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain—but it had begun pouring down rain and of course I didn’t have my rain jacket with me. We bought cheap umbrellas from the street vendors, but decided to take the bus back to the hotel after a gelato stop.

Our next day was devoted to the Vatican. First stop was the Vatican Museum. I have never been anywhere so crowded in my life. It was so jampacked that it was just not enjoyable at all. We really could not appreciate it with all the hoards of people around. Plus, it took us longer to get in that I thought it would (3 hour line), so we were trying to rush through it so we could make our scheduled Scavi tour. The Sistine Chapel was beautiful, but again, it was just too crowded to enjoy it. Lesson- buy your ticket ahead of time!

Luckily, we made the Scavi tour with about 15 minutes to spare. One tip is to leave through the guide exit of the Sistine Chapel—this put you out just by the entrance where the Swiss guards are to get to the Scavi office. The Scavi tour was quite the opposite of the Vatican Museum experience—it was a highlight of our stay in Rome. We were in a small group (about 10 people), and our guide was very enthusiastic. It was well worth it. If you want to do it, you must contact the Vatican months in advance because it’s very popular, and they only allow a limited number of tours each day. We booked our tickets in February for our May visit.

On our last day in Rome, we took the bus to the Catacombs of St. Callixtus. It was nice because our tour group was small and the catacombs were not crowded with tour groups like I thought it might be. It probably helped that we arrived pretty early in the morning. It was an interesting tour and worth the trip out there, but I enjoyed the Scavi tour more.

Next we went back to Rome to just walk around. We went to the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, then back to the Trevi Fountain to get some pictures since when we went the other day it was raining. We also visited the Capitoline Museum and a few churches.

The Roma pass gave us free bus rides for 3 days. We did notice that hardly anyone ever seemed to swipe their tickets on the bus—apparently they just do spot checks occasionally and if you don’t have a pass or a ticket on you, you could be fined. If you plan to use the bus a lot, I’d suggest getting a bus map. There were a couple of times that we had trouble figuring out which bus stop was close to certain sites.

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