Bucket list – Visit Rome, check

Rome is on the bucket list of just about everyone I know. I couldn’t wait to visit Rome and see all the ancient sites I’ve read about. As a fan of history, what better place to visit than Rome! My Italian heritage insisted I visit Rome sometime in my life and I finally got my chance this past May. Thank you frequent flyer miles!

A Week in Rome

Spending a week in Rome, we just fell in love with the city. Roman people couldn’t be nicer and most spoke perfect English which made getting around the city super easy. The city center is fairly small and you can walk to just about all of the “must see” places if your hotel is anywhere near Municipio I, Centro di Roma.

 

Pasta and Pizza

The food was pretty good, especially if you like pasta and pizza as much as I do. Just about every restaurant’s menu includes rigatoni dishes and margarita pizza pies. You can find good seafood as well. It was easy to find places to eat for reasonable prices. It was way too easy to eat pasta every night! Let’s just say, eating healthy was a challenge. Then why are Romans in such good shape? I spoke to a few Romans about this and they said they ate pasta with almost every meal. But they’re not overweight! I couldn’t resist asking how it’s possible to stay thin eating macaroni or spaghetti everyday. The concierge told me he runs every morning.  Hmmmmm. They might have read, Losing Weight for Free.

Drink the Wine

Every glass of wine was awesome and inexpensive. A glass of vino will set you back 5 euros ($5.60 in US dollars). That’s crazy cheap verses NYC prices so getting buzzed doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

See the Sites!

When you visit Rome, the hotspots include the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps,Jewish Quarter, Coliseum, Palatine Hill, Circus Maximus and the Vatican where you’ll find the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Cathedral, the largest cathedral in the world. You can see most of Rome’s sites in a long 3 day weekend or take your time, relax a bit and stay longer. After a week, we wanted to move to Rome! There are entrancing neighborhoods to visit such as Trastevere. Here you’ll find inviting little streets with small shops, good restaurants and many a grand piazza.

 

Awesome Neighborhoods

Just when we thought we had seen every interesting site in the city center, we happened through another wonderful neighborhood by chance, just wandering around on our last day. We found an old, chic little hotel, Hotel Raphael, just beyond Piazza Navona and had a drink (or three) on the rooftop. The views were incredible.

Speaking of rooftop bars, we found a place near the Vatican that was so cool, we spent most of an afternoon there. I don’t remember too much from that afternoon, but the hangover the next morning was awesome.The views from Les Etoiles Rooftop Cocktail Bar & Restaurant were enchanting!

All the cafes serve yummy little morsels for you to munch on with your drink, for free!. Not the standard peanuts. Oh no. We were served little smoked salmon sandwiches, savory mini quiche and all sorts of things. I almost didn’t eat dinner with all the snacks…almost.

Take a Tour

We hired a tour guide for 2 private tours, the Vatican and Ancient Rome. Our tour guide was very good and if you’re interested, his website is called Rome Day Tours with Rich Brunn The tours were a bit on the expensive side but worth every penny if you want to learn a bit about what you’re seeing. I recommend you take a private tour, maybe with one other couple to save a few euros. Ask Rich when the Sistine Chapel is most crowded. Hint, when we were there.

Finding the Universe is another great resource for your first Rome visit.

We cannot wait to visit Rome again and enjoy the Eternal City!