We arrived safely and very tired to Rome yesterday around midday Rome time! We are here! The flight was pretty uneventful, other than finding my leg acting up, so I joined the elderly (there was a seniors tour on the plane) walking up and down the aisles to alleviate the pain. This is, of course, ignoring the fact we barely slept because of babies crying and little old ladies bumping our arms and chairs, one or who was pounding on her touch screen waking up Hanna. Either way, slightly awake. We arrived.
An opportunity here to share a pro tip for anyone traveling… DO NOT buy SIM cards in the airport. I got taken for a ride and didn't know how to get off. Thankfully Hanna has a sharp negotiation ability and has been able to steer me safely so far!
Once we were out of the airport, we encountered a gauntlet of taxi drivers, and different ride services asking for rides. We were going to take the train, but Hanna had heard a flat rate of 48 Euro to get from the airport to downtown. These taxis were insisting there was no such thing, so Hanna and I continued to walk. Before we knew it, a very well dressed Italian man grabbed the guy we were talking to and said he would do it for 48. So we were off, flying down the road at 160km/h in a Mercedes sedan!
Driving through the city was amazing, I'm sure Hanna and I were wide-eyed through the whole thing, tho me more-so than her (she's been to Europe before you know…). The age of the city is hard to describe, especially being from North America where 'old' is 400 years old.
As we drove, I saw old walls, stone structures collapsed with tiled roofs, and spread throughout these scenes were modern buildings, advertisements, graffiti (everywhere, and beautiful for the most part), homeless and an INTENSE amount of traffic. I guess I thought the driving would be similar to North America, but wow. Small cars, lorries and bikes speeding in and out of lanes, the bikes even going between cars when there isn't room to pass. But nobody is batting an eye, this is all normal. The same rules also seem to apply to parking, as it appears there are no rules. Cars park on sidewalks, on angles, on corners, where ever there may be enough room to squeeze the smaller cars that are commonly driven around here. I had to smile when Hanna asked what car the Citroen cars were, which is a brand we don't see in Canada at all unless it's imported.
After about 30 minutes of driving and weaving in and out of traffic, we arrived at our hotel which is about a 15 min walk from the Colosseum - in an absolutely beautiful area. We are beside a private school (looks Catholic), so there are a soccer field and tennis courts right behind our hotel, hidden in a massive courtyard. The buildings are all very tight to the curb, and beautiful, showing Roman architecture (obviously). This creates amazingly narrow streets, you are constantly looking to see if there is room on the sidewalk, or street to walk! It's hard not to walk around it your head up, staring at all the timeless architectural beauty surrounding you.
We ended up dropping off our stuff, and taking a nap to try to catch up on some sleep before we headed out - we intended for it to be an hour, but it ended up being a bit more. We needed it. And surprisingly to me, I NEEDED it. It was beautiful.
We wound up waking around 5pm local time, and quickly got ready and headed out for a walk towards the Colosseum. No tours, no bookings, just explore and sight see. As we walked we encountered amazing sights, including the former (?) official seat of the Pope, a couple of amazing basilicas, and small shops, including little one door grocers who sell fresh veggies and fruit. We got a bit lost, Hanna says, but I felt we knew where we were going (thanks Google Maps!).
The whole Vatican Hill / Colosseum area is unbelievably breathtaking - the Colosseum is is astounding. You don't really understand the size and spacing of this structure until you are there, all I could think about was, wow. I felt like I was walking around the sets of Gladiator! Olive trees, ruins of a palace, old holding cells and baths, all built ages and ages ago. We came during the evening, so the area around the Colosseum was not busy, and we only encountered a few people pushing their wares - they really wanted us to buy some touristy junk.
After reading some history on the area, we ended up walking back to our hotel to call it a night, and on the way, we walked by these beautiful, small, very authentic looking Italian restaurants. Some had people asking you to come in, please sir, come try our food! This reminded me of Mexico on Isla Mujeres! We had been told before we came, that the restaurants with staff asking you to come are to be AVOIDED, so we settled on a small place with a good rating on Foursquare. I believe it was called Hostido Isadora - beautiful little spot, exposed brick walls, and cute little tables. We dove in (I should note, Hanna ordered in Italian, and was told it was pretty good) and ordered some Lambrusco, which is amazing! Bubbly red wine, so sweet, I could of drank a few bottles. After reviewing the menu, we had no idea what to order, everything looked amazing, so we ordered a chef tasting of pasta. This is where they keep bringing you pasta tastings (smaller plates) until you can't eat anymore. It was brilliant. Hanna and I made it to the 5th serving, and every single dish we tried was hands down, some of the best pasta we've have ever had.
Being full of pasta and wine, we called it a night, stopping to pick up some water at a cute little grocer on the way. Another opportunity for Hanna to practice her Italian, which has been very good so far! Got home, curled up and crashed. We now begin day 2! Stay tuned for more posts.