The trip didn't start out super smooth. We saved a lot of money by using Norwegian Airlines and flying out of Newark instead of a DC airport. It was also a direct flight to Rome. The drive to Newark was easy and smooth. No problems parking. But our flight ended up delayed for 3 hours! We didn't leave Newark until 2:30am. The plus side of that was that we were exhausted and could sleep a bit on the plane.
Pre-flight drinks helped as well
Day 1 We got to Rome 3 hours later than planned. I was worried that meant the car service we had booked would have a hard time finding us. But no problems at all. He was right where he had said he would be, holding up a sign with our name on it. And it was a cinch getting through immigration and customs in Rome. It helped that they had kiosks that people with machine readable passports could use, and the line moved very quickly for the kiosks. Once we got in the car, it was about a 45 minute drive to our hotel.
Due to the delay, the sun was setting by the time we left the hotel
We stayed at a hotel right outside the Villa Borghese, which is a big park in Rome. It was about a 10 minute walk from the Spanish Steps. So it was in a kind of touristy area but it wasn't as overwhelmingly crowded as staying right in the popular tourist neighborhoods. Once we checked in and put our bags down, we headed right back out. We walked to see the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. We had downloaded some Rick Steves audio tours so we listened to the relevant portions when we got to those areas. I really loved the audio guides and they worked pretty well. He has a bit of a hokey sense of humor but was pretty informative.
Trevi Fountain crowds
Spanish Steps
We had an 8:30 dinner booked at a place that was supposed to be a popular vegetarian restaurant in Rome. It was called Il Margutta and it was wonderful. It had delicious food, good service, cool art on the walls, and it was on Via Margutta which some call the prettiest street in Rome. It also happened to be the street that the main character lived on in Roman Holiday. I would highly recommend this place to anyone looking for vegetarian/vegan food in Rome. It also seemed like almost everyone else there was Italian but we had no problems communicating in English.
Day 2
The next day we had tickets to see the Borghese Gallery. This is a museum that showcases the Borghese family collection of art and it's right in the park that was by our hotel. So it was an easy 10 minute walk. You'll see a lot about this family all over Rome, there were a couple of them that ended up being pope, and they commissioned a lot art work during the Renaissance. The museum was beautiful and we had a great stroll around the park afterward as well. Tip - buy tickets for this one in advance. We were told that they often don't have same day tickets for sale. They had guided tours and self-guided audio tours but we just went around on our own. The signage was pretty good and we didn't feel like we needed a tour.
Afterward, we were hungry and it was time for lunch. I had a place I wanted to go to but it turned out that they were closed for the last 2 weeks of August. Oops. It turns out that a lot of people in Rome head out of town during this time due to the heat so there were several places that we were interested in which were closed. We just wandered around the street until we found an open place that seemed ok and had lunch there. We lucked out. We were clearly in an area where a lot of the restaurants were catering toward tourists but the place we were at turned out to be the place where local construction workers went to eat. We took that as a good sign. Mike got the carbonara and I got the cacio e pepe, and both were delicious! Sadly I don't remember the name of the place.
We went back to the room to rest during the heat of the afternoon and then we headed out around 4 to go to the Vatican. We hopped on the metro which was easy to navigate. Once we got out at the station by the Vatican, it was easy enough to follow the direction of the crowd to know the right way to go. We did stop on the way to pick up some gelato and Old Bridge Gelateria. It was amazing and I would highly recommend this place if you're looking for gelato near the Vatican.
We went to St. Peter's first and again used a Rick Steves audio guide. There was a line to go through security that looked pretty long but it moved quickly. I think it only took around 10 minutes to get through the line.
We then had tickets to the Vatican Museums. This is another ticket I would recommend buying in advance. It's crowded in there and the desirable times can sell out. We actually decided on after hours tickets that included a happy hour in the Vatican courtyard. The line was long when we got to the entrance at 6:45 but it was because they weren't letting people in until 7. Once they opened the doors the line moved quickly. We decided to do happy hour first. Happy hour included a little buffet of substantial appetizers and sweets and a drink ticket for a glass of wine or juice. There was also live music.
After we had finished our drinks and snacks, we got our Rick Steves audio guide up and used that for the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. I would highly recommend the after hours ticket. It wasn't empty by any means. There were still a lot of people. But I never felt overwhelmed by the crowds, we were never shoulder to shoulder, we never felt incapable of moving, and I have heard it can be like that during the day. I think they only do the after hours tickets on Fridays in the Summer.
Tapestry Room
You can see the crowds aren't bad at all
Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
Once we were done, it was past 10pm. But we still needed dinner. Thankfully the Romans eat late so places were still open and we ended up at La Zanzara. The cocktails were really good here but we had a mixed experience on the food. Mike had carbonara again and said it was amazing. I had a couple small veggie sandwiches where the fillings were really good but the bread seemed a bit stale. But the menu had a lot of variety and veggie and gluten free options were clearly marked.
Day 3
We had tickets to the Colosseum as soon as they opened in the morning. These are another set of tickets I would recommend getting in advance. The line to buy tickets there was super long. And early morning seemed much less crowded than later in the day. We got there about 15 minutes before our entrance time and got in line. It was long but it moved quickly once they opened the doors. We used a Rick Steves audio tour again and it worked really well.
Inside the Colosseum
In front of Hadrian's Arch
The same ticket lets you go to the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill so we did that next. There was another Rick Steves guide for the Forum. However, we didn't have anything for the Palatine Hill and the signage was a little vague up there. We could see a lot of old ruins but it was kind of hard to tell what some of them were.
The Forum
View from Palatine Hill
We then had lunch nearby at Taverna Dei Quaranta. It was really close to the Colosseum and opened early. We were hungry by 11 so that worked out well. We both got pastas again and they were delicious. This place was simple but had good food and a great location. After lunch, it was back to the hotel for a much needed rest.
In the evening, we got ourselves together and went out to see the Pantheon. We stopped on the way and got some gelato at Il Gelato Di San Crispino. They had a honey flavor that was amazing and I think this was the best gelato of our trip. There was a really long line, which I was surprised at because it was an hour before closing. But I guess everyone had the same though to come later in the day. I think it took us around 20 minutes in line and then we were inside and listening to another Rick Steves audio guide. No tickets needed as it's free to enter. I made sure that my knees and shoulders were covered since it was a place of worship but they didn't really seem to be enforcing that here.
Afterward, our plan had been to go see a summer street fair they were having by the Tiber River. It was the last day of the street fair however, and it seemed like a lot of stuff had already closed up. So instead, we decided to wander around the neighborhood of Trastevere which is supposed to have good bars and restaurants. I had seen something about a good pizza place there called Pizzeria Ai Marmi. I had read that there can be long lines but when we got there, no lines and plenty of tables. Well, we had good timing because within 20 minutes, the place was full and there was a line out the door. It also seemed like it was mostly Italians here. We ended up having amazing pizzas, maybe the best pizza we've ever had. The food was phenomenal here. The service was a little slow but you could tell the server was a bit overwhelmed with all the people. I would definitely recommend this place.
We stumbled upon a lot of cool street art during the course of the evening
We then went to a local bar called Freni i Frizoni. We were definitely not cool enough to be there! It was a full bar that had a really nice patio and fun drinks and seemed full of Italian college students. We may have been the oldest people there :) It had a bit of NYC Punk sort of feeling. It was fun but we felt a bit out of place.
Day 4
Ok, this was the day we left for the cruise. I did wake up early to go for a run. I went by the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps again because I wanted the opportunity to see them at a less crowded time. 7:30am they were definitely less crowded but still not empty. The Trevi Fountain especially had more people than I expected at that time of day. I finished up my run in the part at Villa Borghese. I would highly recommend the park as a place to run. There were a lot of paths to explore and enough other people running that I never felt alone but at the same time, it wasn't crowded.
After that, we packed up our stuff and headed to the port. So that part of the adventure will be in the next post, as this has already gotten super long!
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