Mini Eurotrip: Rome

This is a continuation from my trip to Stromboli, Italy (posts one, two, and three).The plan was that after Stromboli, we would take the ferry back up to Naples, and then a connecting train to Rome. BUT.. we missed our ferry and hence the connecting train. What an EXPENSIVE mistake! Being on holiday makes you so laid-back that 15 mins before our ferry departure time, we were still at our ‘hotel’ but I was hardly even panicking. In fact I think I was rather calm and collected the whole time.. but that’s me though – I’m known to have ‘no sense of urgency‘.The plus points were that we got to spend an extra day on beautiful Stromboli, and I really enjoyed sleeping in our little cabin on the night ferry to Naples.

Blah points: having to buy new tickets, and our Rome trip was cut short.

We spent one night at the Alessandro Downtown Hostel, and they were kind enough to refund us for the unused night due to us missing the ferry.

It was my first time in Rome, so our day was spent walking. A lot. Seeing all the ‘must-sees’ etc. Quite a snore considering we had just come from a volcanic island.

 First stop – The Colosseum/Coliseum 

When I saw this, I wondered WHAT KIND of person would’ve been walking around and would’ve just HAPPENED to have such a sticker with them.. and then I realised, that kind of person is probably me. Or Joyce.

   

I couldn’t be bothered to go INTO the Coliseum (I’m not too interested), so just took photos of it from the outside. That was enough for me. I’m generally not a fan of sightseeing but rather I enjoy things I can DO (activities).

How cute! Sort of like a leg-powered gold buggy that you can rent to get around the city.

Needless to say, the whole place was SWARMING with tourists. There were particularly a lot of American tourists.

It was a hot day (over 30 degrees), so I gave in and got a freaking gelati cone for 5 euros from one of the typical tourist-trap trucks outside the attraction! At least it tasted good.

OK.. my impression of the Coliseum when I finally saw it in real life was that it looked rather SMALL. I felt a bit cheated. I really thought it was much much bigger (just an honest opinion hehe).

The group on the right is posing for a photo. The man on the left.. I have no idea.

   

My dress is by H&M and I’m wearing shiny yellow Saltwater Sandals.

We walked halfway around the ‘park’ near the Coliseum and then towards the river to cross an ‘island bridge’, AKA Tiber Island/Isola Tiberina. It was on this little island that I found what I thought was the best gelato shop in Rome!

I practised my basic Italian and ordered myself two further gelati cones. My favourite flavours are hazelnut (nocciola) and peach (pesca).

   

We passed a shrine made in memory of a little boy called Claudio who had fallen off the bridge into the river and perished 🙁

RIP Claudio.

Saw a woman carrying around a kitten in her handbag 😉

After a few more rest stops (seriously we were sweating like mad), we made it to the Vatican City/St Peter’s Basilica (Basilica di San Pietro), where we had PLAY TIME.

The grounds outside the basilica were so huge and full of open SPACE! The sun made the ground look so shiny and all of a sudden I found myself full of energy again.

I ran around chasing pigeons. We blew bubbles. Rolled Wilson (Joyce’s pet golfball. Just don’t ask) around. Took silly pictures. I’d never had to much fun at a religious place before!

      

We spent so much time playing outside that by the time we realised that ‘HEY, we can actually go INTO the Basilica!’, it was 15 minutes to closing time.

So I ran into the queue and had a quick 5-minute wander around. It’s just a big church, after all. I guess I really went inside just for the sake of going! Here is the evidence:

   

These guards have such funny costumes. There were lots of people jeering and teasing them, trying to make them laugh but unfortunately nothing seemed to have worked. I don’t understand how these men can just stay so STILL all day wearing THAT. If it were me I’d be jumping around and doing all sorts of dumb things in such a costume.. ;p

Hmm, looks like I haven’t much to say about Rome, but here’s an exerpt from my Holiday Journal to describe the rest of my evening:

We took the metro back to Via Emmanuele where we rested for a couple of hours before heading out again. We tried to go to Radio Cafe for an indie night (Fish n Chips) but luck had it that it was closed for a private function. AND the metro was closed so I couldnt make it to the Trevi Fountain 🙁

Had a couple of drinks at a bar nearby where the waiter was so patient while I asked him for directions to a couple of different clubs. In the end, the one closest to us that we knew of was Circolo degli Artisti. It took a while to get there (with the help of a nice stranger buying food from a roadside van-stall) but the venue turned out to be super amazing – lots of outdoor space and grass! It looked kind of like a wonderland. Perfect for a warm summer night.

There was a blues concert going on and we caught a bit of that. We met two guys – Simone and Paolo. Paolo was lovely but unfortunately Simone turned out to be a douche and I found him rather creepy. BUT. I had a super fun night overall and danced with heaps of people. AND still managed to get us back to the hostel in a cab phew. By the time we stumbled into bed it was past 5am…..

We didn’t have our cameras with us so here are just two pics from my phone:

   

Left: with Simone (hrmm….) / Right: with Paolo

It wasn’t until our whole trip was over and I was back in London that Joyce and I realised that we completely forgot to take a picture of the both of US together that night! Oh well..