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I've held off posting anything about Rome until I was in Florence because I needed to make sure I didn't have a seriously bad Roma-tude & needed the experience of another part of Italy before I put my opinion out there. I do apologise in advance to those that have had really good experiences in the Eternal City but it really knocked me for six. Especially transiting from Paris - the polished chic capital of the world where everything is beautified, Rome was a total shock.
Travelling & being on location is like everything, it is a matter of personal taste. Granted it was the height of the tourist season & if we wondered where all of Paris' tourists were missing, merde, I have found them here in Rome. I would probably only consider returning to Rome if it was the middle of winter & perhaps for two nights max, just to do the Collessum & Vatican City.
So the run down........
Leaving Paris by Easy Jet. Granted that I arrived at the airport within 4 hours of departure because I did not want to be devastated & miss the flight due to check in problems or airport confusion.
The Easy Jet motto 'íf you are late, we won't wait' - is that a threat or a promise? Oddly they have about 5 check in counters - for ALL destinations, shizzle ma nizzle, I'm in a queue with a combo of characters going to Nice, Budapest, Mykonos & Rome. Thank god I got here early. Peering backward the line was out the door - about 15 metres away, talk about panic attack.
Easy Jet don't make it easy for themselves, the gate was changed at the last minute, that's about 150 people racing to totally different part of the terminal & there is no allocated seating - it's get on & buckle in. Not so bad if you are first in line, that explains the 200m sprint to the new gate.
The plane is fine , think Jet Star & only about 1 ½ hours with a stunning view over the Mediterranean - holidays RULE.
Arrival at Ciampino airport & in typical Low Cost Carrier style it's a walk on the tarmac - plus NO border control, I want a freaking stamp in my passport!! Ciampino seems like Italy's answer to the Outback - hot, baron with a whole lotta nothing.
Airport transfer is painless - tickets were able to be purchased on the plane, very sensible & it's an OK ride into town. Although I have only experienced a smidge of Spain, already this is what I'm thinking about what I'm seeing. Is it the comparisons to France? Or to even Australia, the Lucky Country, I'm not yet objective about these observations.
Arrival at Termini seems like 1st world chaos - it is KER-azy, fast, hot, loud, biz biz buzz buzz toot toot wee haw wee haw zoom zoom, it really has all the bells & whistles. Making it to the hotel was relatively easy & praise Mary, Jesus, the Lord & Lady GaGa, there is air conditioning. Plus it is exactly as illustrated on the web. It's a Best Western decked out Art Deco style to complement the historical features of the building - price check! A$86 a night + carb-o-licious buffet breaky + daily room servicing = bravo!
Side note! Kim, thank you so much for the advice on the packing cells, amazeballs with convenience & functionality. Peeps - if you get to Kathmandu for a sale, pick these up. 3 sizes to pack your suitcase. Why does this matter? Because, after leaving Paris with its moderate weather & only 3 days in Rome with a temperature forecast to rival Hell in springtime, I could put all the Parisian/UK clothes into the big cell, put all the Rome clothes into the medium cell & pop it on the top of the case. This means not going through all my sh*t to get to what I want & it's a simple pick up in a tidy little package. Tres bon.
First Night:
Trevi Fountain - gorgeous but what the hell, people everywhere it is exhausting even looking at them. Dinner was at a tourist trap nearby which I'm fine with until I get some reasonable knowledge to make better choices. Din dins was bruschetta with the best tomatoes in the world, red wine with a side of pecorino & sage ravioli drizzled with olive oil. It was interesting to watch the hawkers Lygon Street style seducing passersby into dining in their establishment. Their main cattle cry was 'NO MICROWAVE'. What. I dunno.
It occurs to me at the end of this evening that this is not a city I naturally bond with & I need to get my tourist mojo on. It struck me during dinner that Paris was DONE, I couldn't just pop to Tuileries, get a baguette for breakfast, no more bon journee, bonjour or bonne nuit - I teared up. I don't know when I'm going back & I'm still a little bit blue. It's like breaking up for all the right reasons - you know you have to but it doesn't make it any easier.
During the amble home, I decide to go against one of my golden rules and...........do an open bus Hop On Hop Off (HoHo) combo deal. I research this before going to bed to find out there is a option of the HoHo 48 hours + Tiber River cruise for only 30€ - pretty good in consideration. In consideration that I already have a Roma-tude.
First Full Day Summary
HoHo was easy to find around the mental-ness that is Termini station. What is not ok about the HoHo is all the hawkers pretty much trying to purse snatch you into buying an umbrella, hat, fan or god damn Genie Bra for that matter.
The HoHo was good for orientation & granted it did a really great route around the city to all the main sites. What I need is to get to Villa Borghese by 2.45 pm & thanks to my stuff around approach, I started a little later than what I should've. At least I'm consistent.
It's a bolt from the bus & I need toilet, lunch & to get about 1KM uphill through a national park within 40 minutes - talk about drama. Pizza is perfect for an on the run gourmet totally jizz my pants experience - who thought of that recipe anyway? Hopefully they got ordained as the Patron Saint of something delicious.
Scoot to Villa Borghese - amazing. I totally loved it, great guided tour, beautiful mansion with history & amazing installations. I now feel actually confident that I can spot a Caravaggio, understand the movement of Bernini & also why wogs love concrete fountains in the front yard of their giant OTT McMansions. So educational.
Note - All the photos taken were by stealth with iPhone - no camera's allowed.
The day winds up with a bit of chill out (chill out is code for BEER) around the gardens, an easy dinner of Prosecco with a side of tuna salad & a hitch hike oh the HoHo.
Second Day
Today my aspirations is to hit all the sites along the way on the HoHo - Collesseum, Vatican, Forum, you get it.
Stop one - Collesseum, its only 10 am & I swear the queue is about 1KM long, insane, stay on bus.
Stop two - Palazzo Venezia. That's an open exhibit & quite grand, so I do the Hop Off part of the HoHo option.
Stop three - Vatican City - queue is indicated at TWO AND A HALF HOURS WAIT. Hell to the no.
So what to do, this sightseeing endeavour is a bust - hang on, part three of the HoHo - the river cruise!!! Yay! More opportunity to get totally sunburnt which will go golden brown just in time for my Australian return to make you all hate me. I'm going on that cruise.
That afternoon included the following sites:
Piazza Navona - star rating ***. The fountain is beautiful but the crowds totally ruined it.
Pantheon - star rating ****. Wonderfully complemented by a free Rick Steves audio tour, it truly was astounding the mathematical & geometrical precision of the place. -1 x * cos you guessed it, the crowds.
Spanish Steps - star rating ***. Combo of above.
So after a bit more 'chilling out'again in the Borghese gardens, I end the day hooking up with probably the best food I've had in Rome - from the local gastronomia - deli. At only €4.37 for a salad, roasted eggplant & a tall bottle of Peroni, I am thrilled completely.
So to round it all off the next day I am leaving for Tuscany & feeling a little bit apprehensive as my experience in Rome was totally unexpected.
At the time of drafting this post, I've been in Florence for 2 ½ days and I absolutely completely love it. I have the desired holiday feeling of 'I never want to leave'.
Don't tell Paris I've fallen in love with someone else.
- comments
Little sister Rome = Hardcore! But I will admit, I love playing tourist and I would go nuts with excitement if I was there. Remember.... GET THE F#$K OUTTA ROME!! Ciao bella :)