As one of the oldest cities in the world, base for the magnificent Roman Empire, Rome is rich with history.
At this point, I have already started liking Rome a little more. Almost like the charm of one of those bad boy thugs your mom warned you about, at the end of the day you just have to fall for the charm. However, soon you realise it was not right and the liking wont last.
We love eating al fresco here, Mid October and the weather was around 20 with strong sun in the afternoon.
That's part of the charm we felt too. Slowly we started finding her piazzas charming and the fountains beautiful and the streets filled with character.
And in between, you will find the various Roman ruins, the colosseum - what Sheldon lovingly calls the "broken old stadium" and all other old fascinating buildings that you would ferociously google after seeing them, such as pantheon.
Rome is vast, spread out and crowded.
It can hot and dusty, laden with flies in the summer too.
To walk from one attraction to another can take sometime, 15 mins to half hour and to Vatican City at the other side of the River Tiber, even more time. You definitely need more than 3 days here to really see and feel Rome.
Looking unfriendly at first, you may just like it after 3 days.
The Italians are surprisingly unfriendly. I find the Spaniards way better.
They are no frills, no fuss people, efficient but unfriendly. At least so far that's what we felt.
And tourists tourists everywhere.
From European, Americans and Asians.
Plenty of them.
Having said that, the city itself has many picture worthy sites and charming walks. In fact plenty of that. Even along the bustling streets of Rome.
Around Rome, I recommend walking as a mode of transport, plus taxi for the times you got too tired or too sweaty from walking. The metro is very crowded, didnt like it much. Or maybe it was a sunday. Anyway, not so kid friendly, many times there were no escalator or lift. Probably similar to London tube's old and dirty stations. Except with narrower walkways.
You may want to opt for the "hop on hop off" touristy double decker bus too, if you hate walking too much.
But driving in Rome is confusing and stressful, like Jakarta.
So on we walk... , too many pretty sites to go to. Piazza Venezia, Pantheon, Fountains, Roman forum, Colosseum, various old churches like Santa Maria Ara coeli and many others ..
And as they say, you've never really been to Rome if you didnt visit the Vatican City.
The Trevi fountain is world famous, but alas it was under renovation when we were there. So all the other fountains would have to do.
Take a break in between your conquests at one of their charming trattorias at one of the piazzas. There's always a piazza nearby an attraction.
If you want to do the typical singaporean thingy, go shopping for big brands, hunting for bargains, then head for Spanish steps, where all the big brand boutiques are, where you will see more Asians than Italians on the streets.
Well, the steps itself make for nice photoes.
If you are looking for a pretty little town just outside Rome to relax and breathe some air in between your tours of the bustling capital, head for the Pope's Summer palace at Castel Gandolfo. Just 40 mins drive away,
The Lake Albano nearby is breath taking and the village is charming.
Me and hubby decided that we won't come back to Rome, but we may go back to Barca. There's just something missing here. We didnt like it, then we liked it, then we had our moments then it ended and then we felt there are probably better places to go to.
Just like relationships with bad boys. haha
And very importanly for us, how about food?
People talk about how touristy Rome is and how most of the restaurants are tourist traps. But so far none of the places we ate at were particularly bad. And some were particularly good.
Normally every restaurant would have a few dishes that hit and one of two that missed.
Unlike Barcelona, where the restaurant itself is ether a hit or a miss. Very risky!
We had some really really amazing foods in Spain and some really really disgusting food in Spain, especially Barcelona.
We figured perhaps if is easier to get a pasta right than say a paella. *shrugs*
On our first night in Rome, we had dinner at one of the lovely piazzas- piazza Navona with 2 charming fountains.
At Tre Scalini, the lasagna and tortellini were amazing and I heard their tartuffo was legendary. I thought it was good, but perhaps not quite legendary.
Our lunch off Via Nazinale was amazing too, with fresh Sole grilled to perfection and the highlight was the onion soup (surprisingly tasty, creamy and not onion-ish at all) and the Carbonara - done the original style: no cream!
And our lunch around the Vatican City ( not inside ) had the best gnocchi i ever had but the Carbonara was a bit too eggy.
But after walking too much, the sweat gets unbearable, so we would take a cab back to the hotel to freshen up before going out again.
Food was easy for Sheldon, pasta and pizza. And oh! Gelato everywhere! Gelato everyday!
Way easier than Spain.
But overall, I wouldn't recommend Rome for an easy trip with the kids.
I would recommend leaving the little ones at home until they are big enough to not need the pram at all. Roads are uneven, often pebbly and narrow.
I feel that Rome is like the Jakarta of Europe, from the airport to the streets. Crowded and messy, dirty and dusty, hot and stuffy in summer, however there are places to go to, you will have your moments and the food is good.
Next, we are driving to Florence, stopping by Space outlet by Prada and The Mall outlet.. to go shopping mad!!
Most people take trains to Florence as the high speed train would take you there at half the time, compared to driving. But we intend to shop seriously and with a kid on board plus many many luggages, car is a must.
Beware that it is left side driving here. So make sure you drive at the right side of the road! haha
So will tell you more about Florence soon.
It is about 3 hours from Rome to Florence and the highway so far is convenient and easy.
Ciao!!
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