So after our 7 day Greece cruise, we were back in Italy. We got off at Civitavacchia and getting off the ship was super easy and very quick. So quick that we were off and waiting for our car about an hour before the agreed upon time. So we just hung out and our car was there right when he said he would be. We had a shared shuttle to save money, but that meant that it took a bit of extra time. Everyone else in our shuttle was going to the airport so we stopped there first. But we were at our hotel by 10am.
We were staying at a different hotel, the Le Meridien in the Prati neighborhood. This was on the other side of the river from a lot of the main tourist attractions (though it was not far from the Vatican). It seemed a little bit more residential and it was cool to see this side of Rome as well.
Neighborhood we were staying in
Our room was ready so we got settled in and then headed right back out to explore. We walked to the cab stand by our hotel to get a taxi to the Monti neighborhood. "Rione Monti, Rome’s first ward (rione). The neighborhood for the cool and young, the old and vintage. For those who want a serving of cobblestone, antiques and artisans, with a side order of beauty, great food and the best bars in Rome. Centrally located between Piazza Venezia and the Colosseum, this is The place to while away the afternoon peeking into vintage stores, paging through old books, grabbing coffee in Rome’s chicest cafes, chatting over aperitivo, and people watching at the fountain in Piazza della Madonna dei Monti. A tiny quartiere, it’s a haven between the tourist traps of Via Nazionale and Via Cavour, and much more Roman than the more popular districts like Campo de’ Fiori and Piazza Navona. This is working-class Rome, where older couples maintain tradition, even as young entrepreneurs open trendy galleries."
It was a fun neighborhood to explore. And we checked out a cool market with local artisans. They had a lot of interesting stuff, clothes, jewelry, beautiful wood working, but it was all a tad bit too expensive for us. We were hungry so looked around for places to grab lunch and ended up at a random place that had Pizza Al Taglio. This is pizza baked in large rectangular trays and displayed in a glass case. You just let them know which one you want and approximately how big a piece and they cut it off for you with scissors. It's priced by weight. It made for a quick and tasty lunch and then we continued on our way.
We wanted to go to the Torre Argentina Cat Santuary next so we took our time walking there and saw some cool things along the way.
We reached the cat sanctuary right around the time they were opening and were the 3rd or 4th people in the door. This was such a cool experience. They are located in some ancient Roman ruins that were excavated in the 20s. There are cats hanging out in the ruins as well as in the office/kennel area. I don't think people can actually walk in the ruins section. Once we walked into the office, one of the volunteers told us all about the sanctuary and their work. She also introduced us to the many cats we encountered. One of them, Isabeau, was just so sweet and came up to us asking for pets. She also started purring right away. The sanctuary has a program where you can "adopt" cats from afar for 15 euros per month. So we adopted Isabeau for 3 months. She is a breast cancer survivor and FIV+ but still such a sweet cat. And now they send us an email and photo of her every month :)
This kitten was very friendly
Me and Isabeau
You can see the cat napping below the sign
After the sanctuary, we continued on our walk and headed back to the hotel. The walk across the river was beautiful and we did find a place for good gelato place right by the hotel to stop at as well.
We took a bit of an afternoon nap and headed out again in the evening. There was a local shopping neighborhood so we went in that direction to just explore and browse. It was fun to check out local department stores and little boutiques. There were also a lot of stands on the sidewalk selling clothes for VERY cheap. We then found a fun little bar where we stopped for drinks and a snack. They had interesting little knick knacks everywhere making for cool decor and they were playing great music.
Once we had finished with our drinks, we wandered around a bit more and found a random place to stop for dinner. Most of the places I had looked up and had been interested in trying ended up closed because it was Sunday. So I don't remember the name of the place we finally ate at but it was only ok. Mike had carbonara and I had caico e pepe again but this was probably our least favorite versions of those dishes. However, they had a zucchini carpaccio appetizer that was amazing!
The next morning was our last day in Rome. But our flight didn't leave until the evening so we still had the morning available to sight see. We went to Castel Sant'Angelo and were there right when it opened at 9am. This was only a 10 minute walk from our hotel and it wasn't crowded at all that time in the morning. It was really cool to see because it covered so much history. The Emperor Hadrian had it constructed to be his tomb but then it continued to be used as a fortress and as a residence for popes. There was a tunnel constructed connecting it to the Vatican so that the pope could escape if needed. It was quite a climb to the top but you're rewarded with amazing views once you get up there.
Weirdly, the castle also had an exhibit going on to celebrate Bulgari jewelry and fashion. That was interesting to see as well.
Once we were done at the castle, we went back to the hotel and had lunch there. The lunch was ok but again, our appetizer was amazing. We just split a caprese salad but it was the best mozzarella we'd ever had. We checked out and our car was right on time to pick us up and take us to the airport.
As you can tell, we had an amazing time in Rome! The two hotels we stayed at were amazing and pretty good location. They were close enough to walk to tourist attractions but not right in the middle of things so they weren't too loud. We were able to get all our hotel nights on points so I'm not sure how much the rooms actually cost though. The first part of our trip was at the Marriott Grand Flora and the second part was at the Le Meridien Visconti. Fair disclosure, I work for Marriott. The other company I wanted to recommend is Civitavecchia Shuttle Express. We used them to get from the airport to our hotel, then from the hotel to the cruise port, back from the cruise port to Rome, and then to the airport on our last day. All four drivers were professional, the cars were all immaculate, and they were always on time.
So that's it for our time in Rome! I'd love to hear if you've experienced Rome or if you're planning a trip and have any questions :)
We took a bit of an afternoon nap and headed out again in the evening. There was a local shopping neighborhood so we went in that direction to just explore and browse. It was fun to check out local department stores and little boutiques. There were also a lot of stands on the sidewalk selling clothes for VERY cheap. We then found a fun little bar where we stopped for drinks and a snack. They had interesting little knick knacks everywhere making for cool decor and they were playing great music.
Once we had finished with our drinks, we wandered around a bit more and found a random place to stop for dinner. Most of the places I had looked up and had been interested in trying ended up closed because it was Sunday. So I don't remember the name of the place we finally ate at but it was only ok. Mike had carbonara and I had caico e pepe again but this was probably our least favorite versions of those dishes. However, they had a zucchini carpaccio appetizer that was amazing!
The next morning was our last day in Rome. But our flight didn't leave until the evening so we still had the morning available to sight see. We went to Castel Sant'Angelo and were there right when it opened at 9am. This was only a 10 minute walk from our hotel and it wasn't crowded at all that time in the morning. It was really cool to see because it covered so much history. The Emperor Hadrian had it constructed to be his tomb but then it continued to be used as a fortress and as a residence for popes. There was a tunnel constructed connecting it to the Vatican so that the pope could escape if needed. It was quite a climb to the top but you're rewarded with amazing views once you get up there.
Weirdly, the castle also had an exhibit going on to celebrate Bulgari jewelry and fashion. That was interesting to see as well.
Once we were done at the castle, we went back to the hotel and had lunch there. The lunch was ok but again, our appetizer was amazing. We just split a caprese salad but it was the best mozzarella we'd ever had. We checked out and our car was right on time to pick us up and take us to the airport.
As you can tell, we had an amazing time in Rome! The two hotels we stayed at were amazing and pretty good location. They were close enough to walk to tourist attractions but not right in the middle of things so they weren't too loud. We were able to get all our hotel nights on points so I'm not sure how much the rooms actually cost though. The first part of our trip was at the Marriott Grand Flora and the second part was at the Le Meridien Visconti. Fair disclosure, I work for Marriott. The other company I wanted to recommend is Civitavecchia Shuttle Express. We used them to get from the airport to our hotel, then from the hotel to the cruise port, back from the cruise port to Rome, and then to the airport on our last day. All four drivers were professional, the cars were all immaculate, and they were always on time.
So that's it for our time in Rome! I'd love to hear if you've experienced Rome or if you're planning a trip and have any questions :)
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