Today I am sharing the first part of our quick trip to ROME!
All of my dreams came true when we stepped out of the plane.
I have dreamed of going to Rome for as long as I can remember. It didn't feel real when we arrived.
I have dreamed of going to Rome for as long as I can remember. It didn't feel real when we arrived.
If you are friends with me on Facebook, you may have saw when I posted this picture!
And then you may have also saw when I referenced the 'this is what dreams are made of' song from The Lizzie McGuire Movie. With no shame, I sang that famous song. And I secretly hoped I would meet an international pop star and get to sing on stage. #Kidding Well it didn't happen, but we did have an amazing time!
For those who have no idea what I am talking about, here is the video clip from the movie! And for those who do know what I am talking about, but want to get the song stuck in your head, press play. ;)
We arrived fairly late on Friday evening, into CIA - Rome Ciampino Airport. We paid around 5 euro per person for a bus that goes to Termini Station. It was incredibly easy to figure out, despite my prior worries. From Termini we walked about 10 minutes to our hostel.
We stayed at La Controra Hostel Rome and it truly was perfect! We had a private room with an ensuite bathroom, I didn't even notice that we weren't staying in a hotel. It was clean, comfortable, private, and quiet! Not to mention the price was spectacular and so was the location! I feel that a lot of people have bad perceptions about hostels. If that is you, do me a favor and stay here! :)
Before I share our trip, I want to share some information/tips/nonsense!
Usually, when we travel to a place, I will have a list of things we wish to see. But that is it! No order to see them in, no itinerary, no plan! We like to wander, get lost and explore. Rome was our 1st exception. We had a little less than 48 hours to see the city, and Rome is huge. You could spend a week in Rome. But we had 48 hours, so I had to get creative.
I typed a by-the-hour itinerary with the help of this blog post! I printed out maps. I planned out bus and metro schedules. I was prepared, because otherwise we wouldn't have been able to make the most of our time!
After checking in, we set out to see the Trevi Fountain at night. (Yep, this was on the itinerary!)
We wanted to see the Trevi in the day and in the evening. I am sure glad we did this because the scene around the fountain was different at night!
This picture is silly, BUT that is Blake opening the door to our hostel! His head meets the HANDLE! This door was HUGE and heavy.
We woke up early Saturday AM to jump start our day!
On the way to breakfast, we passed by this. A pharmacy vending machine. Brilliant!
The best cappuccino I have ever had in my whole entire life, and a chocolate pastry! Blake and I each got the same thing from this little cafe. Breakfast cost us a total of 4 euro! We were happy!
We rode the metro to The Vatican City. Our first stop for the day was the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel.
Now for some more of our actual experience in word form. I read and planned a lot for this trip, as you already know! Everywhere/everything I read said to BUY YOUR TICKETS BEFORE YOU GO! I was like hmm, well, I think tourist season will be over, so let's risk it!
I don't think it is ever not tourist season in Rome. So never risk it. We got in the line, and the guides said that where we were was about a 3 hour wait. Well, this was problematic because THE ITINERARY and because St. Peter's Basilica (the next thing on our itinerary) closes early on Saturday's. So if we waited in the line, we wouldn't have made it. We paid double the price of the tickets, and skipped the line! 33 euro per person, and we were moving on with the day.
Cutting all these dear people. #SorryNotSorry
In the Vatican Museum and exploring! We chose to only pay to skip the line. We could've paid extra for a tour guide, but opted out!
St. Peter's Basillica from the Vatican Museum garden.
The first part of the museum.
I never did figure out why everyone was taking a picture of this, maybe one of you can tell me?
If ceiling goals were a thing, this would be mine! Incredible.
And this floor. All little tiles to make this masterpiece.
So. Many. People.
More ceiling!
After we made our way through the MASSES of people, we entered the Sistine Chapel. I have no pictures because it is not allowed. Even though I may be the only person who actually followed the rules here. It was amazing to be inside and experience the Sistine.
There are two ways to exit the Sistine Chapel. To the left is where we should've gone. It is the exit for people who aren't on a tour. Well to the right is the exit that takes you to St. Peter's Basilica - but is reserved for tours ONLY. Well, when there is 1,000 people trying to fit through a tiny doorway, they can't really tell who is on a tour and who isn't. So we blended in and snuck into St. Peter's Basilica. #Whoops
Boy am I glad we did!
Amazing
Confessional
St. Peter's from the outside. There was a line to EXIT!
Blake has been to Rome before in the middle of summer, and he said it wasn't this bad then. I am not sure if there was a special event or what, but everybody and there brother thought that tourist season was over.
There were almost too many people that I questioned if it was worth going to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. We were shoulder to shoulder with someone the entire time, and you can't be that person that stops to read something and mess with the flow. We didn't fully get to enjoy the first part, but I am glad we did it.
See the chairs? Blake said those weren't there when he went. Only furthering my theory we picked an event weekend.
Fake smile because #people. I was so over people!
Space! Happy again. :)
Next we checked out Castel Sant'Angelo.
There was another long line to go inside, so we just admired from afar! :)
We hopped on a bus and headed to Trastevere area. We found an amazing pizza place for lunch and devoured!
I forgot to take a picture...and there is no good excuse. I was hungry. ;)
We loved this little area. There were tons of cute shops and far less people. It was a nice way to spend a few hours! I bought a green and white scarf to support my Spartans!
We survived half the day, and we stopped for a beer!
Next we headed to Isola di Tiber. The above blog I mentioned stated that we should explore the Jewish Ghetto.
Well, I am not sure if we misunderstood her directions or what, but there was nothing to see. I would leave this off the itinerary.
We walked through Campo de' Fiori next. It was an awesome market with all kinds of things to buy! Everything from fresh fruit to flowers!
We checked out Piazza Navona next.
Per some recommendations we got gelato at Tre Scalini. Well, we didn't really like it! We knew Italy had better to offer us.
As we were making our way back to the hostel. I needed to throw my Tre Scalini gelato cup away, and I just happened to do it in here - this gelato shop with 150 flavors. So naturally, we decided to get another gelato. :) This one was much better!
We went back to the hostel and rested up before dinner. It was pouring rain, and we were kind of exhausted. I yelp'd a place that was close by that had pizza and pasta.
That lead us to Al Forno della Soffitta.
This place was PACKED. I was secretly high-fiving myself! We had to wait about 30 minutes for a table. We didn't mind. Everything looked and smelled so good.
Once seated, it was wine time!
I got a form of the famous Cacio e Pepe with shrimp, and Blake got margherita pizza.
We were both really impressed with the food and the service! It was all amazing.
We even got dessert! A tiramisu to share. It was so cute!
I still dream about that pasta and tiramisu... and wine!
The rain stopped, so we got a bottle of wine and walked around before heading back to the hostel!
