After an amazing time in Madrid we had even higher expectations for Rome, the next and final stop in our cities trip.  I’d visited Rome in 2007 and it had been one of my favourite cities during a six month backpacking trip around Europe.  I was excited to finally show Richard around it.  Unfortunately from the get-go we had a rather South America-esque experience in Rome.  Arriving in Rome’s Ciampino airport after a rather horrible flight with cattle-herders Ryan Air we quickly found out that Italian driving is just as bad as the driving we witnessed in South America.  Barely 5 minutes into the 20 minute bus ride to the city we witnessed our first car accident.  A scooter came sliding across the intersection at high speed. We didn’t see the why or how but there was a car parked by the side-rail and the scooter driver was trapped underneath the car.  The bus driver pulled over and he and Richard ran out.  With the help of a couple of other bystanders they lifted up the car and pulled the man under the car out.  Blood was everywhere.  The ambulance and police were on the scene in a matter of minutes and the scooter driver was well looked after, but we did wonder for days and weeks afterwards if he came out of it all okay.

The bus ride to the city was via grim residential areas which featured streets plastered in graffiti and littered with rubbish.  It reminded us of some of the uglier cities we’d visited in South America.  Then, we were at Termini Station, which even when I visited in 2007 wasn’t the most welcoming or safest-feeling place in Rome.  However, from Termini Station I had my bearings and we were a short 15 minute walk to our apartment on Via Cavour.  I’m not going to write too much about the apartment, but let’s just say it was disappointing and this had a big impact on how much we enjoyed our stay in Rome.  One good thing about the apartment however was its location.  It was about 15 minutes walk to the Colosseum and a pleasant walk via the Monti district’s quiet residential streets.  The apartment also had a lovely view of my favourite church, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore.  You win some, you lose some.

We did a lot of walking while we were in Rome.  On our first night we walked to the Centro Storico (old city centre) and looked at the Trevi Fountain.  It was busy but only a smidgen less so compared to in daytime hours.

The second day we walked around some more and I showed Richard famous landmarks like the Vittorio Emanuele Monument (aka the Typewriter) a rather massive (and arguably) ugly structure on the Capitolene Hill built to honour the first king of unified Italy.  It is quite impressive to look at, but I always find it sad to think about the historical areas that were bulldozed to build it. The Spanish Steps were another amusing sight to see.  Hundreds of people milling around and countless street hawkers selling anything you name it:  roses, scarves, umbrellas, sunglasses, handbags, anything.  We watched while a hawker tried to scam a couple of older Australian ladies after ‘giving’ them roses and taking their photos.  They were staunch ladies and after 10 minutes he took back the roses he’d pressed upon them and the ladies were able to walk away.  How about that for a job?  After this we wound away through the Centro Storico’s old narrow cobblestone streets towards the Tiber river via the Emperor Augustus’ mausoleum which I’d never visited before.  Across the river we found an absolutely authentic Roman café where we enjoyed two sweet and smooth Italian coffees for a mere 1 Euro each.  It was here we first noticed the quality of Italian coffees.  Italians apparently don’t boil the milk, but simply warm it so as to retain the sweetness of it.  You can totally taste this when drinking a coffee with milk. Delicious and so smooth!  We walked around the outside of Castel Saint Angelo which was a fortress and castle for the popes in olden times.  From there we admired the view of St Peter’s Cathedral before calling it a day.  It doesn’t sound like we saw much on our first day, but part of the fun of Rome is strolling around its small and winding streets, stumbling upon ruins and  beautiful fountains, doing lots of people watching and enjoying a coffee here and there.

Another day of walking around the city saw us visit highlights the Pantheon which is one of my favourite ancient ruins.  This 2000 year old building is one of the best preserved Ancient Roman buildings and everything about it is breathtaking.  From the way it continues to stand so solidly with no hint of keeling over, to the way the massive and perfectly shaped dome doesn’t cave in on the thousands of visitors that enter the building every day.  The other highlight was a visit to the Cat Sanctuary, a sort of SPCA for cats set in Roman ruins.  Sick cats stay inside the facility while the healthier cats are allowed to run around the ruins.  We visited a couple more times during our stay and were amused to see how many of them have some of the best napping and sunning spots in the whole of Rome.  A stroll through the surprisingly quiet and peaceful Palatine Hill and Roman Forum in the final hours of daylight were a real treat.  Surrounded by cypress trees we were able to forget that we were in a mad noisy tourist crazy city and were instead able to focus on the beautiful old palaces of Ancient Rome’s rich and famous.  This was one of our favourite activities during our stay and was finished off nicely by having a lovely dinner in a picturesque bar/restaurant in the Monti district near our apartment. We had our first taste of delicious Italian fare, and it was surprisingly all very reasonably priced.

A little known secret about cutting down waiting times for getting into the Colosseum is to actually go to Palatine Hill first.  The entrance to the two sites are on the same ticket so if you go to Palatine Hill first you can easily buy a ticket without having to stand in line for an hour (more like 5 minutes if you’re unlucky) and then you take the same ticket you used to get into Palatine Hill and use it to get into the Colosseum.  There is a completely separate line for those who already have tickets, and instead you walk past hundreds of people who stare at you wondering why you can walk past them, and don’t have to queue to enter the Colosseum!  I didn’t know about this the first time I visited Rome and waited hours to get in.  This time, we had a plan and it worked.  We visited the Colosseum in the late afternoon the day after visiting the Palatine Hill and Roman Forum and had a very easy  visit in beautiful dusky light without too many people around.  It made for a much pleasanter visit compared to last time.

We also had a look through the keyhole on the Aventine Hill.  Surprisingly there was a long queue for this free quirky attraction.  Looking through the keyhole you see a hedge lined garden and at the end of the hedge is a very striking view of St Peter’s Basilica.  Quirky, but our camera isn’t really fancy enough to capture this digitally.

We were lucky with a string of great weather and one day we took a picnic lunch to Terme de Caracalla (the baths of Caracalla)  which are impressive ruins of Anceint Roman baths.  This sprawling tree lined site was another surprisingly peaceful place in the city.  We had a very peaceful afternoon visiting the ruins and picnicking on the grass before walking to Via Appia Antica (the old Roman road).  I’d visited these in 2007 and had forgotten just how long it took to walk up them as by the time we were anywhere near the actual beginnings of the original Roman road it was getting dark.  It was another day involving a lot of walking.

I haven’t yet mentioned our daily diet of gelato.  From our apartment’s balcony I spotted the gelateria on the corner street below us, and it seemed to be open at all hours so that whenever we felt like a taste of gelato (usually somewhere around 9pm at night) we would walk down and share a cup of delicious Italian icecream.  Our favourite flavour was cherry.

For a day trip we went to Ostia Antica, an ancient port city about 30 minutes by train from Rome.  Sort of like Pompeii, without the eruption.  The ruins of the complete city are impressive and you get quite a good impression of what a true Roman city would have been like.  Our favourite parts of the city were the old pub complete with countertop as well as mosaics from the bathing complexes.

Our final day in Rome happened to fall on my birthday.  Having been in Rome for a week we’d seen the main things we’d planned to see and decided to spend a day revisiting our favourite sights.  We revisited the Pantheon and the Cat Sanctuary one last time.  We had a nice coffee in a quiet street off Campo de’ Fiori.  On a recommendation from Brigette (who we visited in Dusseldorf) we had some of the most amazing takeaway pizza for lunch. We ate a couple of slices of margarita pizza from the pizza bakery on Campo de’ Fiori beside the fountain in the middle of the plaza which was a prime position for people and market watching. We had a final pint of cider at one of Rome’s many Irish pubs and then went to dinner at Scieu Scieu a sweet little restaurant just down the road from our apartment.  It was our best meal while in Rome and quite a find as there are so many tourist-trap restaurants you can accidentally waste your money on.  We shared an amazing entrée of seared swordfish with pumpkin fries and honey which was one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten.  For a main I had bream with fried peppers and a balsamic sauce.  It sounds simple but was flavourful and satisfying.  Richard had a steak which was cut in pieces and came with parmesan and rocket.  Again it sounds simple but he said it was delicious.  For dessert we of course had tiramisu, and that was just heaven in a bowl!

And so, sums up our week in Rome.  It’s a beautiful city, but it’s a bit run down around the edges.  I loved revisiting and showing Richard around the old ancient Roman ruins. However I disliked how busy and how gritty the city was. It’s a beautiful old city but it certainly isn’t perfect.  And if you want peace and quiet you best find somewhere else to visit!