Day 1, The Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain
I was in Europe for a business trip and we decided that it was time for us both to see Rome. We’d been to Italy several times, but never actually made it to Rome. Josanne wanted to see the Sistine Chapel, and I’d always wanted to see the Colosseum, so both of those were on our “must do” list.
I’m not sure on exactly what needs to be done to be like a Roman in Rome (per the “When in Rome, do as the Romans do“), but as we only had 3 days to spend there, we ate, we drank, we walked (and then walked some more) and we took in the sights. That felt sufficiently Roman to me!
We had pre-booked 3 excursions before arriving via Tripadvisor / Viator:
- Skip the queue for the Vatican and Sistine Chapel,
- The Colosseum and Roman Forum, and
- a Walking Food Tour.
We flew into Rome Fiumicino airport from Paris Orly and then jumped on the train into the city. This was quick, easy and efficient. We’d booked into The Hive hotel, which was only a 5-minute walk from the Termini railway station. We put our bags in the room, put on our walking shoes and set out straight away to explore.
One thing that we always do when overseas is walk wherever possible. You get to see so much by not jumping in a cab or on a train / metro.
Due to it being a short visit, we wanted to maximise our time, so on day 1, the challenge was to get to the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain and to grab a bite to eat.
Now the first thing to be clear on is that getting photos with no-one in is always a significant challenge in large cities. Sure, you get the photos that look like no-one is there, but if you pull the camera back……
Rome is no different and as you can see with the photos below, you can “sort of” create the illusion that you are there on your own. But zoom out just a little bit and the truth becomes very apparent!
They always tell you to be very careful of pickpockets in Rome. I bought myself a bag that you wear across your chest. I could fit cash, credit cards and a phone into it easily and it kept it all in front of me and out of my pockets. We had no issues at all with people trying to pickpocket us, but anywhere there was a crowd, we were always wary.
We managed to spend several hours looking around Rome in the area between our hotel and the Trevi Fountain, before heading back to shower and get ready for dinner as Day 2 was a big (and busy) one for us. At this stage, we didn’t know that Viator were about to let us down in a big way!
That evening, we decided to eat at the hotel. It was the first night of Euro 2024, Scotland were playing Germany and after the first 45 minutes, I knew it was going to be yet another disappointing tournament for Scotland. There, got that off my chest and I don’t have to mention it again!
The plan for Day 2 was to do the Vatican and Sistine Chapel followed by the Colosseum. It was a warm day, close to 30 degrees.
Day 2 – The Vatican, Sistine Chapel and Colosseum
We were up nice and early and headed off for the meeting point for the 7.30am tour. I’d deliberately booked both of today’s tours as “skip the queue” ones through Viator as we only had limited time to get around. We arrived around 30 minutes before it began. Unfortunately, while Viator had taken our money, they hadn’t actually booked us on the tour.
We eventually managed to speak to someone from the tour company who basically said “Sorry, we can’t do anything for you. We suggest you find another tour“. I asked if they could get us on one the following day, but they said no. We were both disappointed but with no other choice, we set about doing what we didn’t want to do – stood in queues to get in. I was kept amused with some conversations with friends back in New Zealand, both of whom are journalists and were making up spoof headlines for my predicament!
Josanne somehow guided us to a relatively short queue to get into the actual Vatican. For 10 Euros, we got right to the top for some stunning views down to St Peters Square as well as seeing inside of the Vatican. Although I’m a Rangers supporter, I’m happy to say that I didn’t burst into flames!
It was an interesting climb getting up to the top and there were parts where it felt that they were out to get those who were both claustrophobic and scared of heights!
We were fortunate that this was only a 30-minute queue to wait in, as we had a longer 3 hour wait in the queue for the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. Josanne really enjoyed seeing Michaelangelo’s work though, especially the fresco of The Creation of Adam. That said, we couldn’t hang about, as thanks to Viator, we only had a short period of time now to get across the city for our tour of the Colosseum.
Some views of inside the Vatican:
Once we made it to the roof, the views were stunning:
There were also, of course, the colourful Swiss guards on show. Given that there are only 135 of them in total, there are 1.48% of them on show in the photos below!
Once finished in the Sistine Chapel (no photos are allowed in there), we had to grab a taxi to the Colosseum as we didn’t have the time to walk or take the underground. Be aware that in Rome, taxi drivers will frequently want cash. As we had none on us, it took us a while to find one who would take us. Once we did though, he got us there pretty swiftly.
The Colosseum was everything that I hoped it would be. However, our tour guide kept us in suspense, as we were first taken around the Roman Forum. This was also very worthwhile from our perspective, as it gave you a great insight into the history of the area. It’s definitely worth spending some time looking around the Forum, especially with a guide. It was hot, and there isn’t much shade around, so a hat and water were essential.
And then it was onto my undoubted highlight of our time in Rome; the Colosseum. It’s something I’ve always wanted to see. When you take the modern-day arena or stadium, no matter the sport that you are watching, this was its predecessor. Built between 72 and 80 AD, it is just over 1,950 years old.
That it is still standing is fortuitous if you believe the folklore that says,
“As long as the Colosseum stands, Rome shall stand; when the Colosseum falls, Rome will fall; when Rome falls, the whole world will fall“.
It’s probably as well that it was built on such solid foundations!
The Colosseum didn’t disappoint. It was all I’d hoped it would be and more. Majestic in appearance, I stood in awe looking at it from the outside but was much more in awe on stepping inside and looking down at the floor then up at the stands. I took the time to stop, to listen, to imagine the cheering crowds who will have witnessed sights that, fortunately, I never will. It’s as stunning a monument as I’ve ever seen.
After only a brief wait in the queue, and the obligatory bag x-ray, we were inside. The tour guide spent around 25 minutes giving us an overview of the history, after which we handed back our headphones and were left to continue exploring on our own. I could have spent the whole day there!
We stayed inside until closing time and I lost track of the number of photos I took. I only had my iPhone with me and not my actual camera, but the photos with just a phone were impressive enough.
We managed to lose each other inside, but as there was only one way out, I hung about and waited for Josanne. The Colosseum closing coincided with Rome’s very large Pride Parade, so it took us quite a long time amidst a plethora of colourful characters in various states of (un)dress, to get back home.
One of the things that I loved about the underground in Rome is that you can just use your credit card to tap on. You did this and it gave you 90 minutes access to it. This was eminently more sensible than queuing to buy tickets, although sadly, I only found this out on the last day!
On finishing our walk home, we were so tired that we just stopped off for a McDonalds, had a shower and an early night to be ready for the next day.
Day 3 – Exploring the lesser-known sights with a Roman Historian
On our last day, we were very fortunate that one of Josanne’s friends, a Roman Historian from Auckland University had said that he’d give us a tour around the city looking at some of the “less famous” but equally interesting sights.
Jeremy met us just after breakfast at the Pantheon and we walked around the city for 3 or 4 hours before stopping for lunch (and a couple of drinks). I only had one Negroni as it was so strong and settled for an Aperol Spritz as my second one.
The queue for the Pantheon was already very long so we didn’t go in. Jeremy noted that one of the best things inside was the floor which gave a great indication of floors from that period.
We next went into the Sant Ignazio of Loyola Church. There were lots of people taking pictures of the frescoes via a mirror in the middle of the church, but that wasn’t why Jeremy had taken us in there.
On walking up to the end of the church and looking up, it appears that you are looking up at the inside of a Dome. But look closer (and you have to look very carefully and get right up underneath it) and you can see that it is actually a fake dome. The artist, Andrea Pozzo, has actually painted it on a flat surface to make it appear as a dome after a fire destroyed the original one.
The other frescoes in the church are also fascinating and give a 3D impression of characters floating upwards.
Next, we headed to the Piazza Colonna, where there is a marble column of Marcus Aurelias (think Russell Crowe in Gladiator and it’s that Marcus Aurelius). The column tells the story of his battles, so provides a very good overview of life in those Roman days.
The Piazza Navoni was next, although we couldn’t really get good photos here as all the fountains were covered up and being worked on. Jeremy noted that you’d get very expensive but poor-quality food here, so we didn’t stop for lunch.
In quick succession, we then took in a quaint old bridge into a newer part of the city (which turned out to be handy as it’s where we picked up our walking food tour later that evening) a couple of temples (one of Portunus, the other of Hercules Victor), the Santa Maria in Cosmedin Church (famous for the Mouth of Truth – I didn’t get a photograph of this – but the floors in the church were also worth seeing as they were typical for that period).
Jeremy then showed us the first known solid building in Rome, as this was one of the digs that he had been on.
The next area we passed was one that I found particularly fascinating, as it was an old Roman theatre, upon which some apartments had been built. They are still inhabited, apparently by a very wealthy (and one assumes powerful) Roman family. We walked past this area a couple of times during our stay, so I’ve attached the various photos I took from both;
By now, we knew we had to start heading back to the hotel to freshen up for our walking dinner that evening, but Jeremy still had time to whisk us past the Victor Emmanuel II Monument (referred to as the wedding cake), the Forum of Caesar, the Santi Luca e Martina church, Trajan’s Market, Trajan’s Column, the Spanish Steps (from a different viewpoint this time), the Piazza del Popolo with its two matching churches (Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto), the Flaminio Obelisk and the Piazza del Campidoglio.
We’d bought Jeremy lunch part way through to thank him for showing us round and I must say, we saw and appreciated so much more from having been shown around by a Historian. He kept apologizing for going into teaching mode, but we loved every minute of it, and it certainly added to our enjoyment of the visit.
Our Walking Food Tour
And so, after yet another quick shower and change of clothes, we were back out for our last outing in Rome – our Walking Food Tour. I can’t remember every course that we had, but we started in a restaurant that had over 2,000 wines on their wine list, had an absolutely delicious cheese board, pizza and limoncello tasting to name but a few.
And with the end of the food tour, our 3 days in Rome was at an end. All we had to do was get back to the hotel, get packed up, have one final sleep and then it was off to Venice for the next three days.
But as I said at the start, we love to walk wherever we are and that brought us the last, pleasant surprise of our trip. Getting to see some of the landmarks in the dark was equally as impressive as during the daylight.
We could easily have spent another couple of days in Rome and kept exploring. But we were on a tight schedule and 3 days was what we could manage with everything else we had to fit in. It was a great adventure. Rome is a very walkable city and we managed to get in the main things that we both wanted to see. Having a tour with a genuine archeologist was a fantastic bonus.
Would I go back?
Absolutely.
And given that we both threw a coin over or shoulder into the Trevi Fountain, I believe that means it’s inevitable!
Useful tips for the traveller
- Light comfortable clothes are best in summer, when it is hot and humid.
- Don’t be a target for pickpockets – it’s easy to get a bag that you can have in front of you and close to your chest
- Try to walk as much as you can – you’ll be amazed and how much more you see. We occasionally used the underground, but only when we had to.
- Carry a water bottle with you. There are plenty of refilling points around the city with fresh water from wells.
- Expect taxi drivers to ask for cash. They almost seemed upset that we didn’t have any on us.
- The skip the queue tours are really worthwhile – especially if you are on a limited amount of time. They aren’t cheap, but it’s better than standing in a queue for 3 hours. If you don’t want to pay extra, be wherever you want to be early as that will limit your waiting time.
Kevin Blyth 