An ancient city simply reeking with history. Ancient ruins around every corner and ancient buildings (still in good nick) lining many of the famous Roman cobblestone streets. They take great pride in their Roman history and have managed to preserve (and make money from) so much of it.
When you approach impressive wonders such as the Colosseum there is a deep sense of awe that fills your being. Such a massive and incredibly old structure that has seen so much go on in it (some of it fairly heinous too) and so many thousands of years of constant use. Pretty amazing really.
Rome should be an easy place to get around in with all those trams, buses and trains, such a pity that we showed up in the middle of a transport worker’s strike! That kinda made things difficult for us. We had paid for transport tickets that covered 72 hours, but were only able to use them for half of that. Also we bought tickets from a private hop-on-hop-off tour bus company, but they turned out to be very unreliable and didn’t even go past all the bus stops on their map. We wasted one afternoon waiting fruitlessly for them, the scoundrels. But that’s Italy we are told. Don’t expect metro escalators to work, especially if you are dragging vast amounts of heavy luggage like we do.
But we had a lovely time wandering around the streets, checking out all the architecture and sculptures, dodging selfie-sticks and crazy Italian drivers. We ate splendid meals, saw breath-taking marvels and thoroughly enjoyed some great jazz on the banks of the river. Rome is a stunningly amazing place.
We went to one terrific restaurant, which, after having taken a seat we realised we were punching above our weight. We were seriously under-dressed, and the menu prices made us gasp (degustation menus around 200 Euros per person!). However, we decided to stay and treat ourselves to a little epicurean luxury from the a la carte menu. It was the most divine meal we have ever eaten, and was filled with lots of little surprises that were delivered before and between courses. ‘Twas a shame we were in our hot and sweaty sightseeing clothes, whereas the other guests were in suits and glamorous frocks! A memory never to be forgotten.
The dense shoulder to shoulder crowds around and through the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel were a little claustrophobia-inducing, but it was worth enduring that suffocating feeling to view the brilliant collection that those past filthy rich popes had ravaged from around the world. The sculptures were fabulous (even if some prude pope had all the willies removed or covered) and the frescoes and paintings awe-inspiring, particularly Michaelangelo’s incomparable ceiling in the Sistine Chapel. It truly is a magnificent masterpiece.
On our last evening we ate a typically Italian meal in a local restaurant that was recommended by our hosts then wandered around to buy the ‘best tiramisu in Rome’ for dessert. Not really a diabetic friendly thing to do, but it sure was yummy.
The highlights of Rome for us were definitely the ancient art and architecture that presented itself around almost every corner, the great food, jazz on the banks of the River Tiber and the history that is absolutely everywhere.
Georgie left Rome feeling a little disillusioned, it having previously been her favourite city in the world – she felt ripped off with tour and bus tickets, and the general unhelpfulness (?arrogance) of service personnel, but it was still an exciting part of our grand adventure.
There remains lots of good memories and yarns to tell.
Such beautiful sculptures. Incredible
Such a shame that the transport proved to be an issue as Rome is too big to see by foot What did you eat that was so wonderful? You cannot tantalise us – do make us salivate!
When we entered and sat down we suddenly become aware that this was a bit of a posh place and we were dressed in sweaty street clothes and sandals. Before they even handed us the menu we were given complimentary drink of fortified wine with elderflower and an Italian sushi. It was extra yummy. Then, when we did glance at the menu we realised that Yikes! we couldn’t afford this restaurant! Nevertheless we selected a couple of ‘second courses’ with an awareness that we wouldn’t get away from that joint without paying under 100 euros. Rod asked if they had any whiskey to which the waiter replied “Certainly, would you like to look at the bar?” He replied that he would and got up to follow the waiter to the bar. The staff looked surprised at him as the ‘bar’ was actually a whiskey menu that was being brought back to our table. Whoops, a bit of a faux pas!
Rod selected a splendid whiskey then we were brought some complimentary ‘amuse bouches’ including warm carbonara eggs (served in the half shell) with some exquisite cheese marshmallows and gin crème crepes. Talk about absolutely delicious! When the ordered courses arrived they sure looked pretty, but appeared rather small (we thought we may have to get a burger on the way home.) They also gave us three types of bread with it though. Rod had marinated lamb and Georgie had eight hour cooked piglet belly. The most tender, moist and succulent piece of pork ever with skin crisped to perfection. Everything was absolutely fabulous, and we actually felt quite full after it.
But we had to order dessert still. Before that came they brought some complimentary pre-dessert, some delightful little biscuits and meringues hanging artistically from a bonsai plant, plus some intense lemony chocolate icecreams on a stick, coconut pistachio cake pop and tiny bread sticks coated in white chocolate with beetroot sugar plus a bag of caramel popcorn. My goodness gracious me!
We had declined the offer of wines to be carefully matched with our food choices, and instead Georgie chose freshly squeezed orange juice (not on the menu but they were happy to accommodate this request). A large pot of tea was also produced for Georgie at the end of the meal, with jugs of hot and cold milk so that she could choose whichever she preferred.
Then, as we were walking out we were presented with pretty paper bags containing delicious little biscuits, with the recommendation to have them with a nightcap when we got home, or with coffee in the morning.
Quite an experience, and worth every Euro!