4 Days in Rome 🏛️

Rome is a such an exciting city - the last few days have been all about learning lots about history, culture, food, tourism, religion, architecture and.. google maps. 

Public transport is really practical here, but we have walked everywhere because that is possible too. Walked around at our own pace has been so refreshing and allowed the trip to be spontaneous, which I loved!

Peaks in Pictures: 


Peaks: 
  1. Quality cappuccinos in the morning (I gave up coffee a month ago, but while in Italy... So I've been jumping off the walls ha).
  2. Ginseng coffee during the day. Best thing ever, why can't I get this in London?
  3. Pastries. Pasta (Penne all'Arrabiata and Gnocchi). Pizza (Margherita and Marinara).
  4. Having garlic breath all day every day because of the above!
  5. Knowledgeable tour guides. So much history, so much to learn. Hermoine Granger came out to play lol.
  6. Accessible drinking water everywhere.
  7. We stayed in a lovely B&B near the Vatican; it was run by the nicest couple who were like adoptive Italian parents to everyone. They gave us a list of their personal local recommendations and that made the trip so much better than I expected it to be!
  8. Bustle and general atmosphere in the city; as I said before, it is possible to be insanely spontaneous here and do everything on a whim which is right up my street 😊 (Except for some restaurants which aren't open on Wednesdays or Sundays!)
Pits: 

None!

We were blessed with great weather, which was lucky, but - similarly to London - I hope that rain doesn't impact the atmosphere too much around here to be honest because there is just so much to see and do to keep occupied.

Rome in 4 days: 
  • Explore the Colosseum with a guided tour (we did one at sunset with an architect who was so passionate about Rome's history and culture it was more fascinating to watch / listen to her than anything else ha! The Colosseum is very impressive so even though this costs a bit, I really recommend going inside... especially if you've seen Gladiator!)
  • Eat Pizza, pasta, gelato, chocolate tarts, pastries, salads...
  • Drink all the coffee and recommended wines possible
  • Explore Vatican City with a guided tour (I never recommend guided tours unless they are the free walking tours, but we had really good guides here so I can't fault it!). There are a few different types of tours, we did the guided tour that provided fast track entry into the Vatican Museum entrance, then continues into the Sistine Chapel then into St. Peter's Basilica. We left our guide at the end of the 3 hour tour, walked up the dome, visited the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit and sat in the square as the Swiss Guards changed over. The Pope was holding an audience the next morning so the square was set up for it, and tickets are being handed out - but we didn't go; maybe next time 😉
  • Visit all the ruins - there are information boards scattered around but everything is on google so we made our own walking tour out of it (I was our tour guide, NGL I was pretty good)
  • Explore impressive churches like Chiesa del Gesu, Church of Our Lady of Peace, Trinita dei Monti,
  • Visit impressive political sites like Associazione Nazionale Fra Mutilati E Invalidi Di Guerra and Corte Suprema di Cassazione
  • Explore local architecture and touristic attractions like Pincio Promenade, Piazza di Spagna, Piazza Campo de' Fiori, Castel Sant'Angelo, Piazza Venezia (my favourite!), Trastevere, Keats-Shelley House (we skipped this and stayed on the Spanish Steps to people watch instead), Villa Medici, Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon.
Not much to do, I know... !! 

If I could go again, I would also: 

Spend more time eating at the restaurants recommended by local hosts, but that's all really. I would do this trip all over again if I could!



If I've missed anything that you would recommend, please let me know,

Priya x

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