Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Rome.... A city out of time

We decided to visit Rome in one of our weekends here in Stuttgart, we booked the tickets about 2 months earlier as the flight tickets go very high.....
We arrived there on FridayAugust 7th evening. Our journey began with a taxi driver who wanted to charge us about 30 euros more (you agree on the fare before you start your journey luckily) but after we arrived at the hotel, they told us that taxi fares generally increase after 10 pm (still we ended up paying about 5 to 10 euros more than what we should have paid), so better to take the taxi outside the arrival terminal.


As the taxi entered the city and approaching the hotel, we passed by some amazing buildings and churches, it felt like we travelled back in time to land in the early 60's.

We were staying at the St. Regis hotel, an amazing luxurious hotel. It was conveniently located on a 10 to 15 minutes walk from some of the major attractions there.

As we arrived around mid night and had planned the next day to start very early, we went directly to bed. We woke up next day, had our breakfast and hit the road around 9 am.

We had planned to visit the Colosseum first, it was about 15 minutes walk from the hotel. The walk was really interesting as you get to see some nice buildings and plazas, also you get to do some window shopping ;)

Just as we approached the colosseum, the view was overwhelming...


It felt like we are heading straight back in history to attend one of those gladiators battles and see the emperor of Rome and all the senates cheering in their thirst for blood.

As we got closer, it became more and more overwhelming, till we actually arrived at the location.


N.B. purchase the tickets online before you go as the line to buy the tickets is extremely long.
Even though we had our tickets in hand, we still had to stay in a long line to enter but still it was way shorter and faster than the other line to purchase the tickets.

Two things to be aware of when you start your day; Rome is not a baby stroller friendly at all, so you will do a  lot of lifting specially going down the stairs to the colosseum. The other thing is how hot the city can get in the summer, we were there in August and it was extremely hot,take as much cold water with you as you can and be sure to have all the protection measures needed for your baby (sun block, hat, water...)

N.B. wear comfy shoes (better sneakers) as you will do A LOT of walking
The sight consists of three attractions; The Colosseum which is the main attraction and it would take about 3 hours (with the entrance line time included) that's in case you go as early as 9 a.m, the latter you go more time it would take.





There is also another attraction which is the Roman Forum and the Palatine, they are two ancient sights connected together, you access them through the same gate and with the same ticket







Looking at this ancient sight brings back the picture of all the ancient roman senates and you could even imagine them in one of their parliament sessions with the roman emperor debating and taking decisions.

Once you are done you can grab some italian pizza at the pizza snack bar across the colosseum and have some rest too ;)

After we finished our tour we decided to walk around for a better sense of the city, the city is amazing, every fountain or plaza is worth a photo (if only you can survive the heat). The hot weather forced us to head back to hotel around 5 pm for some rest.

We decided to go to the Piazza Navona for an afternoon coffee and gelato, this place is a must see specially if you have kids, they will enjoy the opportunity to run around freely in this pedestrian area.

The obelisk at Piazza Navona


We spent about 2 hours there and then we headed to the famous Trevi fountain; even though it is being renovated and most of it is hidden now; you can still feel how amazing this work of art is, it is SO BEAUTIFUL in every way.

N.B. the area around Trevi fountain is very good for souvenirs in terms of variety and prices.

We finished our day with a dinner in the same area as the Trevi fountain and what would be better than having Italian pasta in the heart of Rome :)

Next day we only had about 4 hours as we were supposed to take the train to Venice about 2 pm, we had the chance to visit one of the beautiful churches here.

While there, no matter how little time you have in the city, make some time to visit at least one church, the city is full of beautiful churches worth visiting.


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