I don’t often give details of my personal life, but I went to Rome for my 40th birthday at the beginning of November and it was so beautiful there that I thought I’d share my trip with you.
My boyfriend and I spent 4 days pounding the streets taking in as much as we could. Rome is stuffed full of amazing things and around every corner was something remarkable – 2000-year old ruins, beautiful architecture, towering statues, secret gardens, massive entrance doors, and huge plazas. Rome doesn’t really do things on a small scale!
The Roman architecture was quite consistent. The buildings were my idea of aesthetic heaven with square symmetry and straight lines. They all had shutters and massive doors with little ones secretly hidden inside. They were imposing and bold and I thought they were stunning. Even newer buildings had been designed to fit this ideal so there wasn’t this awful mishmash of elegant old buildings and nasty 60′s carbuncles.
The food was simply outstanding. It was cheap (if you knew where to look) and we spent hours over lunch at little trattorias drinking red wine and eating pasta. The wine was only 8-10 Euros for a litre so we sometimes had one at lunch and at dinner! The coffee was just gorgeous and served exactly as it should be – which is to say not in buckets with a tonne of nonsense on it.
I love how the creator of Starbucks wanted to recreate Italian coffee for the masses but made such a hash of it they won’t allow one single Starbucks to open in Italy. Italian coffee is smooth, dark, strong and hot. It cannot be beaten and shouldn’t be messed around with. It also costs around 90p a cup which is a gift from heaven if you ask me.
Another ritual we fell into was eating ice cream every day. There were so many bonkers flavours that we tried as many as we could. I rediscovered chestnut ice cream which I first come across in Sorento and had completely forgotten about. Even though the temperature was 20 degrees, I believe you could eat ice cream all year round in Italy.
Rome is quite hectic although not a patch on Naples. dozens of scooters zip around and, with cars coming at you every direction, you have to keep an eye out. What look like zebra crossings are in fact meaningless and even if the green man is lit up, you still don’t have right of way. We discovered you just have to stride out and hope for the best! We only saw 2 brave cyclists the whole time.
One afternoon we met a Yorkshire couple outside the Colosseum looking for directions into the Palatino and Forum. These suckers had just paid 20 Euros to have their photo taken with a mock ‘Gladiator’ (read bloke in Reebok sandals and a skirt) and they couldn’t wait to get home. The man informed us that Rome was dirty and he’d never knock the UK again. Personally I’d swap Rome for Scarborough any day but, like most cities, you do have to seek out the good places and avoid the touristy ones.
The only thing I’d change if I went again is to have 3 full days there instead of 4. Our feet were absolutely killing us by the second day even though we used the bus a lot. We got a Roma Pass for 25 Euros so could use the public transport for 3 days and get into 2 major attractions. This doesn’t include the Vatican but the Colosseum, the Palatino and the Forum count as one and the Pantheon is free anyway as it’s a church. You can also jump the hour-long queue with the pass.
One of the most memorable moments was the first night we arrived. We dropped our bags at the hotel and took an amble into the centre. We found a little place and had wine and pizza outside while we circled places on the map we wanted to see during our stay. We then went for a wander, turned a corner and there stood the Colosseum. It was deserted, all lit up and it looked stunning. We stood staring at this age-old monument in the warm night air and felt really lucky to be there. It was a great start to our holiday.
In fact, I think that if you live in the UK it would be possible to go to Rome for a day. It was only £60 return each to fly to Fiumicino, 14 Euros for the train from the airport to the Termini station, and then the food and transport were really cheap. You could get there late morning, fly back in the evening and only spend around £150 You’d need a bit more for the sights but for a couple of hundred quid you’d have an amazing day in Rome.
I’ve spend 3 of my birthdays in Italy now and may spend the next one in Muscat with a Foreign Diplomat friend stationed there. But for my 40th birthday, all roads led to Rome.
How about you; Have you ever been to Rome? What did you think?
