January, 2013.
Rome Fiumicino Airport
Fiumicino is the main airport when flying to Rome. Rome also has a second serving airport called Ciampino – which is mainly used for low-cost airlines.
We flew with Fiumicino (Leonardo Da Vinco). They have four terminals which can be a little confusing at times, but we found it quite simple to navigate. The airport lies about 16 miles southwest of Rome and can be linked to Rome city centre by train (Termini) and road.
They had plenty of information desks with multi-lingual speaking staff. So if you needed to ask any questions you weren’t left stranded.
Terravision Bus Transfer
The Terravision bus service was fast and has no stops in between journeys from Rome Fiumicino international airport to Rome Termini Station and back.
I found this bus service very competent and helpful as they have a ‘Terracafe’ which is located at the side of the Termini station – Marsala, 29 F-G / Termini Station Platform 1. This is where you could buy your transfer tickets and where you get picked up and dropped off.
Prices for the bus tranfers are less than 10 euros each for a return – so well worth your money.
The Termini station is located centrally in Rome and is the hub for trains that link to the rest of Italy and where airport trains and buses leave to both Fiumicino and Ciampino Airports.
It’s pretty central to everything and anything you could need if you are waiting around, with the likes of restaurants, fast food, shops and toilets all near by.
I loved our hotel – even though it was only a three star. It was exactly how I imagined a small, local Italian hotel. It wasn’t too big, but the staff and everyone staying were very friendly. Our room was vintage Italian with green carpet, tiled orange bathroom floors and spongy yellow walls. It was clean, so I was happy.
Location was perfect too, it was roughly a 10 minute walk from the Termini Station. Rome isn’t a very big city when you compare it to the likes of Paris or Berlin, so nothing was too far. I can honestly say we had the most perfect hotel location as we were down the road from big tourist attraction like the Colloseum and Trevi Fountain.
The Rome Pass
The Rome pass is a tourist card that allows you to freely use public transport and gain entrance to attractions. You have entry to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel, St Peters Basillica, The Basillica and Cloister of St John Lateran. Choice of visiting two of the following; Collosseum (including the Roman forum and Palatine), The Capitoline museums, the Borghese Gallery and the Nation museums. It also gives you the privilege of being able to skip some queues.
When purchasing the Rome pass, you can choose from either a 48 hour costing 28 Euros or a 72 hour costing 38.50 Euros.
I love getting city passes because it makes you visit attractions that you may never have thought about, it also saves you time and money as you will have already paid for it.
Calzone
You know that moment when you are so hungry you could eat anything? Well that will never happen to me again – and here’s why.
After a day of travelling and exploring half of Rome, we were pretty hungry, which led us to a little food van outside of the Colosseum which had ‘pizza sandwiches’. Absolutely gross.
It wasn’t the best way to start our Italian food experience, but never again will I have a Calzone – too many flashbacks. This picture speaks louder than words.
Pizzeria Restaurant ‘Fontana al Viminale‘
This restaurant was amazing. It was even more amazing because it was next door to our hotel.
It had typical Italian decor, everything squeezed in, wine bottles on display and all that. There was about four men who worked there who came across as being all friends that wanted to set up their own restaurant. They were all kind and welcoming.
I ordered Spaghetti Bolognese and Rich got Lasagna. We both shared a tomato and garlic pizza in replace of garlic bread as we discovered that Italians don’t seem to eat garlic bread!
Paying for our meal, we were then given a complimentary shot of alcohol each, I had Limoncello (which is delish!) and Rich had straight Vodka, which is just plain nasty.
Colosseum
Ok…i’m going to start off by saying that before we visited Rome, I hadn’t seen Gladiator…I know, i’m sorry. So, entering the Colosseum with Rich saying “Are you not entertained?!”, I just thought he was having a moment, turns out he wasn’t. For the record, I have now seen Gladiator.
The Colosseum was the first attraction we visited, our eyes lit up the moment we saw it. It’s incredible. Even the surrounding area is beautiful, with the paths all cobbled and surrounded with ruins – which are just fascinating to look at because it really is just collapsed buildings.
For those who don’t know, the Colosseum is an amphitheater, the largest ever built! Constructed under the Emperor Vespasian in AD 72 with concrete and sand, it was eventually complete in AD 80. It could hold between 50,000 and 80,000 and was mainly used for gladiatorial contests, animal hunts, executions and dramas.
You get to walk around the different layers of the Colosseum, and they even have partitioned parts of it so you can see things that would have been behind the scenes when it was in use. They have modernized it in certain parts so it is almost museum-like as they have boards up with facts and figures on them and statues to look at.
One thing that was weird was the amount of cats ‘Rome-ing’ about. They were just chilling everywhere, photo-bombing most pictures.
Entrance to the Colosseum is 12 Euros unless you have purchased the pass.
The Roman Forum consists of ruins from several ancient government buildings that are amongst the surrounding area of the Colosseum, between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills. It was a site for processions and elections, public speeches, criminal trials and gladiatorial matches.
Within the grounds their are statues and monuments commemorating the great men of Rome – it has been known as the most celebrated meeting place in the world and in history.
It’s crazy to think that where you are standing has been host to some incredible parts of history, and now we are stood simply taking pictures.
The Roman forum is included on the pass, however, can cost you nothing if you have purchased a Colosseum entrance ticket.
Trojan’s Market
Trojan’s Market isn’t what you would expect.
It was the first shopping mall in Rome – but now it’s just ruins.
Altar Della Patria
The Altar Della Patria was the second massive building we saw entering Rome. It was always packed with people taking pictures of it.
It is a monument honoring Victor Emmanuel, who was the first king of a unified Italy. It is between Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill. It has winding stairways, columns, fountains and sculptures. It really is impressive and will have you staring at it for ages.
Directly opposite is a long shopping strip that leads you to the ‘people square’.
Piazza Del Popolo
Piazza Del Popolo is a large urban square which translates to “the Peoples Square”.
The piazza lies inside the northern gate in the Aurelian Walls – once the Porta Flaminia of ancient Rome, and now called the Porta del Popolo. This was the starting point of the Via Flaminia, the road to Ariminum and the most important route to the north. At the same time, before the age of railroads, it was the traveler’s first view of Rome upon arrival. For centuries, the Piazza del Popolo was a place for public executions, the last of which took place in 1826.
I was looking forward to seeing the Trevi Fountain most of all. It took us a while to find it because Rome wasn’t easy to navigate, they just had a few streets with no street names, which threw us off a bit. But we found it in the end…and it was a special moment.
It’s quite fascinating actually. It gets drained every so often to collect all of the money in the fountain, which is then distributed to the needy. It’s bigger than I thought, it stands at 26.3 metres high and 49.15 metres wide. It is one of the most famous fountains in the world.
We threw a coin into the fountain and made a wish. The square that the Trevi Fountain is in was jam-packed, lots of people taking pictures and eating Gelato – FYI the Trevi Fountain is surrounded by loads of Gelato shops!
After struggling to find it at first, we couldn’t help but bump into the fountain at least four times a day – it just kept appearing! I couldn’t complain though, it was my favourite thing to see.
You wouldn’t believe how crowded 135 steps can get. We went when the sun was setting, thinking it wouldn’t be too bad, and their were still people crowded everywhere taking pictures. It’s a lovely little area. We came from the top and walked down towards the little fountain at the bottom.
I was really excited to see these steps, I don’t know why. It was nice to sit on the steps and people watch for a bit.
Again…when there is a Hard Rock, there is a Jenny and Rich eating a Chicken Legend Sandwich and BBQ ribs!
In terms of design, Rome HRC is my favourite. The restaurant was spherical and the ceilings were painted like the art you will see in all of the cathedrals and churches.
We also got asked if we wanted to request a song. We requested Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams, because why not!
The Pantheon
The Pantheon was completed by Emperor Hadrian around 126 AD…so a long time ago.
Inside, the walls are spherical, although from the outside The Pantheon is square – it’s very strange. It’s still one of the world’s largest un-reinforced concrete domes and is one of the best-preserved in all Ancient Roman buildings. The Pantheon is in the Piazza Della Rotonda square.
Vatican City didn’t look much different to Rome – I mean, it is only on the other side of the river, after all. Vatican City itself has a population of about 842 and is the smallest sovereign state in the world.
Fun Fact: the economy of Vatican City is supported financially by sales of postage stamps, tourist merchandise and admission fees to the museums.
While we were there, it wasn’t too busy, so we had a nice stroll around while we were waiting for the museums to open.
Vatican Museums
Within the main Cathedral of St Peter’s Basilica contains the Vatican museums, which are full of the most unbelievable masterpieces you could imagine.
There are over 15 museums/ rooms within, which are:
- The Sistine Chapel
- Pinacoteca
- Raphael’s Rooms
- Egyptian Museum
- Etruscan Museum
- Pio-Christian Museum
- Gregorian Profane Museum
- Galley of Tapestries
- Pius-Clementine Museum
- Missionary Ethnological Museum
- The Immaculate Conception and Sobieski Rooms
- Borgia Apartment
- Gallery of the Candelabra
- Chariot Room
- Apartment of Pium V
- Gallery of Maps
- Chiaramonti Museum – Braccio Nuovo Gallery
- Historical Museum – Carriage Pavillion
- Vatican Courtyards
You don’t have to go out your way to find these rooms, as booking onto the tour, you pass everything and go through everything. You can’t miss it! And it’s well signed.
Walking around and through all of the Vatican museums can put you back a little less than 50 Euros depending on the packages you choose.
St Peter’s Basilica is a church within Vatican City, which is in the city of Rome. It’s renowned for its architecture and being one of the largest churches in the world – as well as being regarded as one of the holiest catholic shrines. The church itself can draw audiences of 15,000 to 80,000 people which adjoins onto St Peter’s Square.
You can’t miss this. Walking towards the church, St Peter’s Square opens up, it’s huge, you can just imagine how crowded this place can get. The atmosphere must be incredible.
Entering the church itself, it is hard to comprehend. It is so big. So many people gathered inside to take pictures, having a look around – with some even joining in with masses.
Guided tours around St Peter’s Basilica are from 22 Euros.
I felt like we had walked miles and miles to see the Sistine Chapel – you are forever walking down long corridors full of spectacular art wondering if it will be the next room. It opens up in to a large hall, filled with hundreds of mesmerized tourists.
The paintings are unbelievable. I find it hard to believe that someone could paint something so beautiful. The detail and time that has gone into the painting scares me, because it’s just so big! And the ceilings are so high!
Some people are so incredibly talented.
Tip: you aren’t actually allowed to take pictures in there, so just holding your phone or camera out can look suspect. There are also a lot of disguised security men walking around, so be careful!
Entrance into this museum without the Rome pass is 11 Euros.
This museum was very pretty and stripped back. There wasn’t too much to look at which made you look into things more than you normally would have.
It had a central square with rooms coming off it. There were four rooms covering: Terme Di Diocleziano, Crypta Balbi, Palazzo Massimo and Palazzo Altemps.
Built on the Stadium of Domitian in the 1st century AD. The Piazza Navona is a Piazza in Rome where ancient Romans went to watch games, which is also known as ‘Circus Agonalis’ translated to ‘competition area’.
Now defined as a public space, it was transformed into a highly significant example of Baroque Roman architecture and art. It features sculptures and other architectural creations such as fountains and churches.
The Piazza has in its time hosted theatrical events and activities. Now they have Christmas markets – which I bet are out of this world!
Palatine Hill stands roughly 40 meters above the Roman Forum. Behind the hill is the House of Tiberius which is cut into the side of the hill.
As mentioned above, it overlooks the Roman Forum and is now a large open air museum and can be visited on the same ticket as your Colosseum ticket. The entrance is on Via di San Gregorio, which is going away from the Colosseum.
The Popes Cathedral – Papal Archbasilica of St John in Lateran
We just bumped into this cathedral. We had been into so many churches and cathedrals by this point, that we didn’t want to go out of our way to see another. And, as we expected, we stumbled across another.
Being called ‘The Popes’ – you would assume it was in Vatican City, but it’s not. It’s located in Rome, and quite a distance from Vatican City. It’s the oldest or four basilicas, which in fact are all based in Rome. It was huge.
The doors were about 10 times the size of me! Incredible!
Tricked!
Just on a side note to everything. This is something that was probably the highlight of the holiday for Rich.
Rich thought it would be funny to play a little trick on me in a shop. You know those glasses that look like they have a liquid inside but it’s actually hidden within the glass? Well, Rich played that trick on me…and the result of that was a scream and this picture.
Gelato
Ice Cream is probably my favourite food of all time. So, experiencing Gelato for the first time was just a whirlwind of emotions. It changed my life. It’s delicious. In fact, it’s better than ice cream. On top of it being so tasty, there is also so many different flavours to choose from!
While we were in Rome, we tried Strawberry, Banana, Vanilla and Toffee. All so delicious. It was January too – but nothing can come between me and Ice Cream goodness.
FACT
In Italy, on the first Sunday of each month, all historical attractions are FREE! Yes you heard me…free! So, if you are visiting Italy around the start of the month, plan wisely.
Your Own Set of Wings 
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