Benvenuti a Roma!

*post written by Vlad*

After the chaos of departing Corfu, Greece (picture 40 billion people in the line to the check in desk & late night flight delayed), we finally landed in Rome and got to our residence around one in the morning. After taking a costly 80 euro cab ride (subways closed at this hour) we met with our Airbnb host at the designated spot to lead us to what would be our home for the next 5 days. 

Up to this point in our travels, we have been renting private apartments from Airbnb, meaning that we were the only people there. Because Rome was a bit pricier and because we missed interacting with people we decided to try a shared apartment. In this case it was a three bedroom flat where two bedrooms were for rent while one was occupied by the hosts - a couple and their young daughter. Sounds a bit strange but it was anything but. The hosts were super friendly and we enjoyed chatting with them about their life in Italy. They provided simple a breakfast which was a first for us. It was a nice treat to wake up to hot coffee, yogurt, juices and of course Nutella (what no pasta for breakfast?). 

As if we didn't get our fix of old rocks in Athens, the next morning we set off on our first stop and probably the most famous site in Rome: the Colosseum. The site did not disappoint and was quite impressive in person although a large part of it was covered in scaffolding. After taking some photos and grabbing lunch, we continued walking around Rome and taking in the views. 

The next day we continued our sight seeing with the Spanish Steps at Piazza di Spagna being our first stop. We climbed the baroque architecture130 odd steps to the top to see the view of Rome. While it may seem high, we climbed these steps with ease as this was the same distance we needed to tackle daily to our Dubrovnik apartment. It seems like we got to Rome during renovation season because Barcaccia Fountain on the bottom and Trinita dei Monti church on the top of the stairs were also undergoing "rehabilitation". Nevertheless, it was a nice sight to visit. 

Next stop was the 18th century Fontana di Trevi. Sadly the famous baroque monument was undergoing some maintenance and the entire fountain was dry and blocked off. It was hard to imagine the appeal of it even without the construction. 

Another slight disappointment was the Circo Massimo (Circus Maximus). We set out to find this stadium that held upwards of 150,000 people. After searching for it around the subway stop I finally asked a passerby where it was. He pointed to the large sunken park beside us and informed us this was it. Expecting a large marble stadium more than double the size of the original Olympic stadium in Athens, I was a bit shocked to see just a large park with a bunch of dudes in tiny shorts playing ultimate frisbee on a half grass/half gravel field. I'll chalk this let down to my own naivety. You'd think that since we haven't seen this structure advertised in its modern form in any postcard or travel picture anywhere I should have figured out that this thing doesn't exist anymore. 

Now onto food - similar to the Greek salads in...well, Greece, we were equally impressed with an Italian staple: bruschetta. The simple combination of bread, olive oil, and ripe, red tomatoes was a must for every meal we sat down to. You may scoff at me mentioning the colour of a tomato, but the quality produce at times in Europe is something that you would think should be a staple in North America. Italians are well known for their cuisine and love of food and we found that even supermarkets were stocked with high quality and tasty items such as cured hams, cheeses, olives and fresh produce. If you love wine, this is a great place, as wine is very affordable (and delicious) in Rome, both at restaurants and at supermarkets. 

Another great thing about Rome are working ancient fountains around the city where travelers can fill up water bottle or stick their heads under. These might be wasting more water than the ice bucket challenge, but was still a welcome sight as we toured around in the heat. 

Anyhow, our trip to Rome was very fun and we were glad to have visited it. However, in our opinion, Rome is one of those places that is a tad overrated. Yes, there is tons to see, especially if you are a history buff, but just like Athens, it probably won't make the list of our top destinations.

Geography: Italy is located in the Southern Europe; Rome is the Capital of the country and located in the "middle of the boot".

Population:  about 61 million in Italy, 2.8 million in Rome making the Capital of Italy the country's biggest city

Demographics: vast majority is Italian, minorities include Romanians, Albanians and North Africans 

Currency: Euro €  where 1 Euro = 1.35 USD

Religion: mostly Roman Catholic

Best Known for: the birthplace of western culture (together with Greece); religious center of Western Civilization; home to Vatican; ancient sites and monuments such as Colosseum; museums; explorers such as Columbus and Polo; delicious cuisine (pastas, bruschetta, mozzarella, tiramisu); fashion; fancy cars.

What We Noticed: Lots of great food even in supermarkets with very affordable produce; people shooting espressos on the spot (their version of coffee to go); Nutella; tanned people; Birkenstocks; subways needs some TLC and AC; pop music playing at train stations; fast driving, obelisks. 

For more photos of our visit to Italy, check out the Gallery page. 

Our EasyJet flight from Corfu to rome was very quick however not cheap; we paid $680 for two tickets.  Quite a bit for such short distance. 

 Our room in Italy. The bed was a lot more comfortable than in Corfu.   This was our last breakfast; it was chocolate heavy.  View from the balcony of our apartment. 

 Edyta at the Colosseum.  DFL pride at the Colosseum. 

As you can see main attractions don't always look so beautiful from different angles. Here's a shot of the Colosseum from the street.  Wandering around. 

Lunch time.    Spanish Stairs.  View from the top of Spanish Stairs.  Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) monument which holds the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a fairly new building as it was completed in 1925. The size of this building is spectacular. 

 Here is a close up of the guards. You can barely see them in the previous photo. 

Edyta playing paparazzi with her zoom lens.  She even got this old lady who is probably waiting on a date...

Rome has about 300 churches; this is one of them. 

 We expected this pyramid to be much larger and hoped for no scaffolding for a change hehe. At the Pyramid of Cestius, built in 12 BC. 

Circus Maxiums - today it serves as a playground for kids, park for people walking their dogs, and a picnic site. During the ancient times it was a chariot racing stadium and mass entertainment venue.  Streets of Rome in the evening; making our way back to Altare della Patria. 

One of the sculptures at the Altare della Patria  Is this sculpture taking a selfie?

View from the back of Altare della Patria on a sculpture of Capitoline Wolf feeding Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. 

Another view from the back of Altare della Patria.  

 Colosseum at night. Basilica Ulpia and Colonna Traiana Altare della Patria in the evening.  Italian/German restaurant where we stopped by for dinner.  Browsing the local markets. 

Many things in Rome are spectacular; their subway is not one of them. It is pretty old, loud, and without any AC.  Rome subway station. 

Street performers.

Beautiful door.  Fancy fashion store. Looks like green is in for the fall.  We wrote a few postcards from Rome and sent them out with Vatican stamps. We found out that the Italian post has a fairly bad reputation and loses letters frequently. Vatican post on the other hand is very reliable and many Romans walk over to the Vatican to send any important letters or parcels.