Rome, Italy - October 2008

We went to Italy for 2 weeks for our 2nd Anniversary.  We originally planned this trip during May, but had to postpone it to Oct/Nov.  We knew it would be cooler and we'd possibly have more rain, but it turned out to be a perfect trip.  It wasn't very crowded for the most part and it wasn't hot and sweaty.

Our itinerary included:  3 nights in Rome, 3 nights in Sorrento (visiting Naples and Pompeii), 2 nights in Florence, 3 nights in Cinque Terre (Vernazza), and 3 nights in Venice.

We flew into Rome and out of Venice.  We traveled by train in Italy.  We packed very lightly, each carrying an oversize backpack weighing approximately 20 lbs.

We used Rick Steves' website and Italy guidebook to plan our trip and to chose hotels and restaurants.  Our budget for hotels was less than 150 Euros a night.  We did splurge on food, however.  We spent 75 Euros a day on food, but we had a lot of wine.  We had wine every night with dinner and for most of our lunches.

3 Nights in Rome – City with lots of history

We arrived in Rome about noon the first day of our trip. We took the train from the airport to the city center, checked into our hotel, Hotel Italia (TA Review), and headed to the Colosseum.

It was only a 15 minute walk from our hotel. We were able to get a lot in that afternoon. After the Colosseum, we walked through the Forum to the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.

The first night, we had dinner at a family-run restaurant that seemed to be in an alleyway. The streets are very small and narrow, so it always seems that you are walking in an alley. When we first arrived, the server sat us at a table that was so close to another couple, it would seem as though we were there all together. Most of the other tables were empty, so we asked to move. The couple told us that it wouldn't matter where we moved to, but we didn't understand what they meant. Almost immediately, another couple was sat next to us as close as before. We quickly learned that all restaurants in Italy sit people this close.

The second day, we went to the Vatican.  There were no Pope sightings while we were there. We walked a lot in Rome (and everywhere else), but we did jump on the Metro subway when we got tired or wanted to go somewhere that was too far from our hotel. The Metro was pretty east to figure out. We also jumped on the bus one evening to go to dinner. The only thing I knew was which bus to get on, but I didn't know what stop to get off. We finally heard some other tourists going to the same place we were and jumped off when they did.

Our third day in Rome, we went to the Borghese Gallery.  The museum was really nice, but it was the park that it was located in that was really cool. After going through the museum, we wondered around the park watching all the locals enjoy their Sunday afternoon. I especially got a kick out of the children. There was something about little kids speaking Italian that just fascinated me.

The last night of our trip, we came across a small Jazz bar.  We went in and ordered a bottle of wine and listened to some live music. It was really cool when the singer sang songs in Italian, but she actually sang a lot of popular songs in English.

When talking about this trip, a lot of people were concerned about what sort of weather we'd have visiting Italy this time of year. It only rained once while we were in Rome and it was only an hour or so and we were taking a siesta. We took naps a lot, but we were walking at least 10 miles a day.

ATTRACTIONS:

Colosseum, Forum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps – All things you have to see!

Once we arrived to Rome and checked into our hotel, we walked down to the Colosseum and went inside to see it.  We stood in line for about 30 minutes and got the audio guide for our tour.

After the Colosseum, we walked through the Forum with our walking guide from Rick Steves.  We followed his guide and learned about most of the ruins that remain in the Forum.  It was very helpful and fun to have the guide.

We then walked down Capitol Hill and over to the Pantheon.  It was dark by this time, but we were still able to go inside the Pantheon.  It actually started sprinkling while we were in there and could feel it coming through the dome.  We stopped for a quick dinner before heading to see the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps.

We only saw the Trevi Fountain at night, but it was a great night scene.  There were lots of people sitting on the steps enjoying the view.  We grabbed a beer from a shop nearby and sat to watch people take pictures and throw coins over their shoulders.

Our last stop were the Spanish Steps, another big hang out at night.  We jumped on the Metro stop here and headed back to our hotel.  It was a long day of walking, but we saw most of the major landmarks in one day!

Vatican City – St. Peter’s Basilica and Vatican Museum – Home of the Pope.

We went to visit the Vatican on a Saturday.  The last Sunday of the month is free, but we heard it gets really crowded, so we opted to go on Saturday.  We took the metro from our hotel and followed the crowd to St. Peter's Square.  I was amazed by the square.  We waited in line to get inside the Basilica for about 45 minutes.  You have to go through metal detectors before going inside.  We opted for the audio tour, but chose not to listen to every entry.  We would have been in there for hours.  The church is so beautiful and amazing, expect to look up A LOT!

After touring the church, we climbed the dome (Michelangelo's last work).  It's a 300+ stair climb to the top and there are some very narrow passages.  I get a little claustrophobic and had to slow down when there were people in front of me.  Once you get to the top, you get some pretty awesome views of Rome.  The one thing that really upset me was all the graffiti on the walls.  This defacing was everywhere we went in Italy.  How could people write on buildings and structures that were 100s of years old?  I could never quite understand that.

After climbing the dome, we went to the Vatican Museum.  We had seen signs giving the hours of the Museum for the end of Oct and it seemed that the Museum closed early.  However, we decided to go and make sure and luckily it was still open.  We headed straight for the Sistine Chapel.  There really isn't a direct route to the Chapel, however, so you walk through the Museum a ways and see a lot of paintings before you finally get to the Chapel.  You aren't allowed to take any pictures in the Chapel (not even without the flash), however, we didn't see the sign and snapped a couple before getting yelled at by security.

We spent one day in Vatican City and there is no way you can see everything, but that gives a good reason to go back again someday!

Borghese Gallery – Museum of sculptures and paintings.

This museum recommends reservations.  We booked for a Sunday morning.  The park, Villa Borghese, that it is located in is like a big "Central Park".  It was a cool park with trails, ponds, row boats, museums, a zoo and lots of people watching.

Your reservation to the museum gives you 2 hours to view the 2 level museum.  The sculptures are on the bottom floor and the paintings are on the top floor.  We got the audio guide and it was very helpful to explain what you were looking at.  This was one of our favorite museums from our trip.

Charity Café Jazz Club – Wine and Jazz Bar.

On the way from our hotel to the Colosseum, we came across this little Jazz bar.  I saw a sign that they were having a performance that night with a buffet .  We came back and went in and sat in a booth in the back.  The place is very small with about 6 booths and a few seating options by the bar.

We ordered a bottle of red wine for 24 Euros and stayed to listen to the performer.  The performance was "Aperitivo Jazz con Marta Berni Duo".  It was a female singer and a pianist.  They were pretty decent.  We really enjoyed the Italian songs, it added to the ambiance.  However, she did sing a lot of popular songs in English.

According to the brochure we picked up and their myspace page, they have performers quite often, Wed thru Sun nights.  Their myspace page is myspace.com/charityjazz.

RESTAURANTS:

Osteria da Mario –  Little Mom and Pop Joint.

This restaurant is about 2 blocks away from the Pantheon.  You can sit inside or outside.  The restaurant is next to a couple of wine bars.  We had our first experience with sitting very close to other people, which is common in restaurants in Italy.

The service was what we expected.  It's not like in the U.S. where servers go out of their way to be friendly or check on you all the time.  You'll get plenty of time to decide what you want and to get the check.  Usually you have to ask for things, like the check.

We ordered Ravioli and Carbonara, both were very good.  We also had a liter of house red wine.  Our meal was 31 Euros.

Ristorante la Carbonara –  Nice place on Campo de’ Fiori.

The restaurant is located on Campo de' Fiori.  We usually tried to eat away from the tourist areas, but Rick Steves recommended eating on the square here.  The service was ok, a little stuffy.

We ordered Cannelloni and Oso Bucco and a liter of house red wine.  The cannelloni is oven baked and comes out really hot.  It was very good.  Our meal was a little more expensive here, we spent 58 Euros.

Oppio Caffe –  Nice view of the Colosseum.

By our third day of walking all over Rome, my legs were pretty sore.  We had an afternoon where we wanted to relax, but not sit in our hotel.  The Colosseum was the closest site to our hotel, so we walked to it and found this bar that had patio seating facing the Colosseum.  We decided to sit and have some drinks and soak in the atmosphere.

We ended up having a few beers and then ordering pizza.  The pizzas in Italy are pretty big, we could have shared one (although some places don't let you do that).  We ended up spending 43 Euros for our beer and pizza.  We knew it would be a little more expensive due to the view, but it was a great place to just hang out and look at the Colosseum for a while.  A lot of people were coming and going just having a cocktail or coffee and appetizer.

The decor on the inside is very modern and the bathroom in located in a small hallway of mirrors.

Continue reading our trip:

3 Nights in Sorrento

2 Nights in Florence

3 Nights in Cinque Terre

3 Nights in Venice