Hello my dear readers, I am finally home after an amazing week in NYC. It was crazy and exhausting but totally worth it; I learned, enjoyed, and discovered so many things I definitely think I discovered another passion.
This is a post about the things we did in Rome in only four days. When we arrived it was so overwhelming because I wanted to see everything but 4 days didn’t seem to be enough. Well, they were enough to get to know all the important things, I will explain to you what I recommend doing in four days and also I will give you a list of all the places my friends suggested we should visit. Hope you like the post.
DAY #1
– The first day we decided to take the Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour, I know, there is nothing local about it but since we’ve never been to Rome it seemed like a good idea. We got to do a lot of sightseeing and then stop at the places that caught our interest. So we got down at The Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Palatine Hill. We arrived at 11 am and since it was extremely crowded we only got reservations to get inside the Colosseum at 4:30 pm, so we started with the Palatine Hill, the residential district of the Roman aristocracy during the Republican era and the official seat of power. The promenade was extremely long, but the views from the Hill were amazing. We then walked to the Roman Forum, the political administrative, and religious centre of Rome; visited Piazza Venezia, the Trajan’s Forum and ended up inside the Colosseum.
– After we got out we were starving so we took the bus and we got down near Trastevere, a charming medieval neighborhood where locals like to go to eat, dance, have coffee or some drinks. We toured around the neighborhood and have a delicious meal at Grazia and Graziella, the food was excellent with affordable prices and a nice seating outside. I completely recommend dining here.
DAY #2
On the second day we still had the tickets for the bus so we did the complete tour and saw almost everything, and then we got down at Fontana di Trevi, which by the way was being renovated so we only got to see half of it, but we still tossed our coin in hopes of coming back. Afterwards we walked all the way to The Pantheon, and Piazza Navona, where we had amazing gelatos. I think that when it comes to gelatos in Rome, the best ones are the “street” ones, the no-fancy restaurant ones, at least based on my experience. So we walked all the way to Castel of St Angelo, took some pictures outside, bought tickets for the night tour for another day, and take the bus to the Spanish Steps and Piazza di Spagna. After taking some pictures we strolled through Via dei Condotti and Via del Corso for some shopping all the way to Piazza dei Popolo. My father always says that the best way to get to know a city is by walking it, so we literally almost walked around everywhere and yes it was the best way to see everything.
– To end this amazing day we went to have dinner at a place some friends recommended us, it is called Ciccia Bomba. The place is located in a street called Via del Governo Vecchio, in a very local and charming neighborhood near the Pantheon. This was the best diner we had in Rome, the mozzarella cheese was extraordinary, the pasta was authentic and perfectly cooked, and the price was the best part; even though we ordered literally one liter of wine, some appetizers and two entrees we only paid 40 Euros.
DAY #3:
– On the third day we decided to do things more like the locals, so we rented a vespa for the day. Since we were in Rome we wanted to get an indulgence so one of the ways to do it was to visit the four patriarchal basilicas: St. Peter’s Basilica, Basilica of St. John Lateran, Basilica of St. Paul Outside-The-Walls, and Basilica of St. Mary Major. With the vespa it was easy, fast, and cheap to go to the basilicas, and also extremely fun. After visiting the four basilicas we went to the Piazza of Nights of Malta, where we found a fascinating wooden door, known by the Romans as the “hole of Rome.” A “once in a lifetime” attraction where visitors look through the keyhole of the door for an spectacular vision of St Peter’s Dome. I have never seen anything like it, I think it was my favorite part of Rome, seeing through it was more than seeing it was feeling something completely magical.
– We ride the Vespa for a couple of hours and then we headed to the Castle of St. Angelo for the night tour. I think this is a must when visiting Rome, it is exciting, fun and interesting in so many ways. The tour is so easy to do because the guide explains just the important things and she was fast and straightforward. This castle was a Papal fortress, used for protection whenever the Pope was in danger; if something happened he used the Passetto (an elevated passage that connects the Vatican City with the Castle) to get to safety. After the tour we had dinner in the caffe of the castle with an amazing view of St Peter’s Basilica.
DAY #4:
– The last day we visited the Vatican City, and climbed the stairs of St Peter’s Dome. I recommend buying the tickets for the museums and the Sistine Chapel online a few days in advance so you won’t have to make a four hour line to get inside. My favorite part of this day was seeing the Sistine Chapel, it was breathtaking and majestic.
– To end our trip to Rome we had dinner in Aroma, a luxury restaurant with a perfect view of the Colosseum. The food was not worth the money, because it was extremely expensive, but the view truly was.
These are other restaurants and places to see that my friends suggested:
– L’Isola della Pizza.
– Il Vero Alfredo, for the famous authentic Alfredo Fettuccine.
Localdiggz 