We arrived in the mid-afternoon via a regional Trenitalia train from Naples, and found our way to our hotel. The guy at reception claimed that one of the guests was “sick” and therefore we’d have to stay in another hotel about 5 doors up for the first night, and come back to the one we booked on the second night. We weren’t too pleased, but found the substitute hotel very nice (in fact nicer than the one we had actually booked!) with a large and spacious room and friendly service at the front desk.
After setting our things down and freshening up we took to the streets of Rome. It’s amazing how well the memory stores things because I remembered Rome just as it was. Only better, because it’s much more familiar and safer city now.
Our hotel was located close to everything we wanted to see in Rome. It was only a few minutes walk away from the Spanish Steps and down the road from the Trevi Fountain.
And around the corner from The Trevi Fountain, we found the Pantheon, still with towering columns and attracting hundreds and hundreds of tourists.
Photos don’t do the size of the Pantheon justice. In real life, it’s a monumental structure, imposing itself on the cafes and restaurants around the perimeter of the piazza. Geoff really enjoyed sitting at these restaurants enjoying its stately presence, so we had a late lunch at one before continuing our walk around Rome.
Many years ago when I was backpacking around Europe, Rome was our last stop and my friends, with a trusty Lonely Planet had found many wonderful discoveries in Rome, including Gelataria Della Palma on Via della Maddalena (click for map location).
It is the best place for gelato in Rome with loads of unique gelato flavours such as Nutella, Mars Bar, meringue, biscotto, guava, fragola (strawberry and banana) just to name a few (and a few that we sampled!).
We continued our walk to the Piazza Navona, with its lively centre of local artisans and buskers, all enjoyed by tourists and diners at the many restaurants.
Between the Piazza Navona and the nearby market place, the Campo di Fiori, is a quieter part of Rome with less tourists and a random scattering of independent stores, restaurants and hip bars. We stopped for a drink at café/bar Caffe della Pace, located on the ground floor of a rustic ochre building with ivy climbing the exterior walls.
A short walk from there, over the Fiume Tevere, the body of water that runs through one side of Rome separating it from the Vatican, was the Castel Sant Angelo, a castle surrounded by illuminated walls and just down the road from the Vatican’s main square.
We were pleasantly surprised by the fact we could enter the Vatican's almost empty cobbled square with its numerous columns arranged in a circular fashion around at the base of St Peters Basilica.
It was lovely to be there with no crowds. We’d definitely recommend a night visit to the Vatican for anyone.
Our second day in Rome was spent at viewing the ancient ruins of the Roman Forum, next door to the Colosseum.
On our previous trips we had toured both these sites so decided instead to spend some time in a cooler place, the Musei Capitolini. Musei Capitolini is in fact 3 museums showcasing historical artefacts from Rome such as sculptures, inscriptions, coins and furniture. The 3 museums surround the Piazza del Campidoglio and a bronze statue of Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius.
Of the 3 museums, we visited, Palazzo dei Conservatori, located on the west-side, containing the mythological story in bronze of the She-wolf who once nursed the young twins, Romulus and Remus the traditional founders of Rome.
A neat discovery was the contemporary café, Capitoline Café, on the terrace at the top of the museum, with sweeping views to the rooftops of Rome.
We had lunch here and enjoyed this immensely. In the middle of summer, a place like Italy is packed with tourists and it was very pleasant to escape this for a few hours.
After lunch, it was onto shopping, more gelato and wondering the streets of Rome again.
When night fell we found ourselves having another wonderful dining experience at Osteria del Pegno, a local secret, where you can find no tourist diners, high quality, home-made food such as the pasta, lemon sorbet and chocolate brownies, and great friendly service by the jolly Italian guy who owns the place. The food here was amazing, bountiful (check out our entrees below and what 'buffalo mozarella' means on an Italian menu!) and made with a lot of care.
A wonderful way to spend our last night in Rome and reflect on a great summer in Italy.
Till the next adventure....
