The grand adventure: Location 2. Rome
It was a lot warmer, and a lot more humid in Rome than we had expected. It was also very busy. I found Rome very difficult - I had already been quite apprehensive about it based on what I had read and been told, as well as it being our first stop after 16 hours of flights. We were glad when we arrived that we had a transfer to our hotel already arranged.
Waiting to go through passport control was tedious. It was extremely hot (I don't think they had the air conditioning on), the lines were long and moved slowly. However once we got through all that it was easy, we came out into the main part of the airport, located the person with our name on a sign, followed him to a car, and he took us to our hotel. It was amazing driving from the airport, seeing signs and buildings from ancient times all together with modern buildings.
Our day in Rome started with a city tour. We were taken around on foot to see the Trevi Fountain, Piazza della Republica, La Colonna di Marco Aurelio, Palazzo di Montecitorio, the Pantheon, Palazzo Madama, Piazza Navona, and then taken by bus to St Peter's Basilica. Amazing! After St Peter's Basilica we had the option of staying at the Vatican for further sightseeing there, or being dropped at one of three locations back in Rome. Our original plan had been to stay and wander through the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel, however the crowds were getting to us and we decided to do something a little more relaxed. So, we took the bus back to Rome and were dropped off at the Spanish Steps. We had lunch on the way up, then walked the steps down. We wandered down the main drag until we hit the Roman Forum and eventually the Colosseum. Then we walked back to the hotel - about 40 minutes - stopping to get our first gelato of the journey.
Once back at the hotel we rested our poor tired feet for an hour or so, then went out to find dinner. We had a lovely meal- Paul had pizza and I had gnocchi. Consensus was that Lygon Street has been ruined forever for us! We also shared a 1/2 ltr of red wine - only the house red but so much better than the house wine we've had anywhere!
Our second (and last) day in Rome started with a semi-relaxing wander of the streets around our hotel. I say semi-relaxing because it was fine whilst we recognised streets and could work out how to get back, but once we took an odd turn... well it took a lot of stopping at each corner to consult the map and work out where we were and whether we were walking in the right direction! Eventually we made it back to the hotel, in time to check out and arrange a taxi to get us and our cases to Termini (Rome's major train station) which was only about a 10 min walk away from the hotel, but impossible to walk with our luggage.
Termini was a big and confusing place. We eventually worked out where we needed to go to find our train to Venice, and ended up sitting on our cases for 1/2 hour waiting for the big screens to tell us which platform to go to! Once they did it was easy to find the platform and the train, and eventually our seats. Then we were on our way to Venice!
Impressions: Rome was busy, but delicious.
Waiting to go through passport control was tedious. It was extremely hot (I don't think they had the air conditioning on), the lines were long and moved slowly. However once we got through all that it was easy, we came out into the main part of the airport, located the person with our name on a sign, followed him to a car, and he took us to our hotel. It was amazing driving from the airport, seeing signs and buildings from ancient times all together with modern buildings.
Our day in Rome started with a city tour. We were taken around on foot to see the Trevi Fountain, Piazza della Republica, La Colonna di Marco Aurelio, Palazzo di Montecitorio, the Pantheon, Palazzo Madama, Piazza Navona, and then taken by bus to St Peter's Basilica. Amazing! After St Peter's Basilica we had the option of staying at the Vatican for further sightseeing there, or being dropped at one of three locations back in Rome. Our original plan had been to stay and wander through the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel, however the crowds were getting to us and we decided to do something a little more relaxed. So, we took the bus back to Rome and were dropped off at the Spanish Steps. We had lunch on the way up, then walked the steps down. We wandered down the main drag until we hit the Roman Forum and eventually the Colosseum. Then we walked back to the hotel - about 40 minutes - stopping to get our first gelato of the journey.
Once back at the hotel we rested our poor tired feet for an hour or so, then went out to find dinner. We had a lovely meal- Paul had pizza and I had gnocchi. Consensus was that Lygon Street has been ruined forever for us! We also shared a 1/2 ltr of red wine - only the house red but so much better than the house wine we've had anywhere!
Our second (and last) day in Rome started with a semi-relaxing wander of the streets around our hotel. I say semi-relaxing because it was fine whilst we recognised streets and could work out how to get back, but once we took an odd turn... well it took a lot of stopping at each corner to consult the map and work out where we were and whether we were walking in the right direction! Eventually we made it back to the hotel, in time to check out and arrange a taxi to get us and our cases to Termini (Rome's major train station) which was only about a 10 min walk away from the hotel, but impossible to walk with our luggage.
Termini was a big and confusing place. We eventually worked out where we needed to go to find our train to Venice, and ended up sitting on our cases for 1/2 hour waiting for the big screens to tell us which platform to go to! Once they did it was easy to find the platform and the train, and eventually our seats. Then we were on our way to Venice!
Impressions: Rome was busy, but delicious.