In September of 2017, my husband and I took our first trip to Rome. It had been a lifelong dream of mine to visit this city, and although I’d been to Italy a few times for work, I was never far enough South to hit this amazing city on my itinerary. I’ll admit that we debated quite a bit between Paris or Rome for our first big trip together to Europe, but I’m so glad that we chose Rome!
Throughout the city, we found the locals to be friendly and easy-going. We did not run into a single situation where our English was not accepted and returned with a smile. The sites throughout the city are as massive and impressive as we hoped they would be, not a single one turning out to disappoint.
We stayed at the Boutique Hotel Campo De’ Fiori, and it was the perfect spot for us. Steps away from the daily outdoor farmer’s market, bustling with tourists, vendors and shoppers, we had chosen an idyllic location. The concierge at the hotel was one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met, and he kept trying to teach us more and more Italian whenever we came through the lobby. He sent coffee or drinks up to the rooftop terrace for us whenever we wanted, and was genuinely enthusiastic about showing us which restaurants, shops and tourist spots to visit. From our hotel doorstep, we were able to walk to all of our chosen destinations, and only had to hail a taxi on the morning we were heading to the train station with our bags. Whenever we head back to Rome next, we will be staying there again.
Our itinerary started with a long flight from San Francisco to Frankfurt, where we had a short layover before hopping on our flight to Rome. Landing at 11am local time, I’d arranged for a car to pick us up. Standing there with our name on a placard as we exited the terminal, our driver helped us with our bags and drove us into the city. As our heads bobbed in the back seat and the cobblestones rattled around below us, we tried to battle our jet lag while he pointed out all of the amazing landmarks we were passing. It was as if we’d booked ourselves an immediate tour guide! He was wonderful and extremely friendly. I always recommend booking a car for your arrival transportation. Hailing a taxi, uber or figuring out the local transportation when you’re tired from the flight can be frustrating and intimidating.
After we pulled up to the Hotel and checked in, we immediately took a nap in our room. We spent the rest of the afternoon on a short walk, visiting the closest churches, museums, statues and monuments. We stopped on our way back to the hotel for an early dinner, where I ordered my first Roman Pasta Carbonara. I literally cried in my bowl of pasta, it was so good. I kid you not! (Ok, I was maybe a little tired still, but I’m serious about this food being so amazing it made me emotional). To this day, I am determined to make a carbonara even close to that dish, but I’m still not quite there.
On Sunday, we ventured to the Colosseum and then made our way back toward the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. It’s amazing how easy it is to walk throughout Rome. We originally looked at the maps and worried that we would be trying to do too much in a single day. But instead, it felt like we saw a new feature of the city every time we turned a corner.
Our Vatican City tour on Monday was honestly too stressful. I’d pre-booked tickets (which was definitely the right move to avoid the ridiculous lines!), but it meant that we had to arrive at a specific time. The walk took us a bit longer than we’d expected, so we ended up feeling rushed. On top of that, we didn’t realize that there is nowhere to eat inside Vatican City! So an all-day tour is not really feasible. After our guided tour of the museum, a visit to the Sistine Chapel and then St. Peter’s Basilica, we were famished. We wanted to climb the stairs to the top of the church, but had to cut our time short so we could go find something to eat. Since our tickets would become invalid once we left the grounds, we ended up just walking the city for the rest of the day. If I were to go back to Vatican City, I would probably tour the museum on my own and make more time to visit the church. I would also remember to bring my Grandfather's rosary with me, so that I could get it blessed. (Boneheaded move on my part, forgetting to bring that on this trip).
The only other major task on our list in Rome was to do some designer shopping. (Never designer BUYING, mind you, just shopping and browsing). So we made our way toward the Spanish Steps and some of the high-end shops nearby. Someday, I’ll be able to walk into Chanel and purchase something substantial. #lifegoals
On Monday morning, we asked our amazing concierge to help us with transportation to the train station so we could head toward Naples and eventually on to Capri. Shouting “Arrivederci!” to each other as we packed into the cab, we wished we were spending another day or two in the city. I honestly did not get enough of Rome, and look forward to the day we decide to head back.
Leave a comment