I always knew I wanted to visit Rome, but I never thought I would fall in love with it the way I did.  I chose my hotel by reading reviews on Trip Advisor.  We ended up staying at a boutique hotel called Trevi 41.  In all honesty, the hotel wasn’t anything fancy, but it was perfect.  Walking distance to everything you want to see in Rome, there’s an ATM directly across the street, and a water fountain just outside!  I suggested this hotel to a friend who visited Rome shortly after we did, and she loved it as much as we did.

The Sites

As you can imagine, there are a ton of things to see in Rome.  Luckily, if you are the type of person that likes to wander, and get lost, you will just stumble upon most of those sites on your own.  I do suggest grabbing a map (our hotel provided one), as it’s a good way to keep track of what you’ve seen, and what you’ve got left to see!

Trevi Fountain: As a fountain enthusiast (lol is that a thing?), the Trevi has long been on my list of must-see fountains.  Let me tell you…. it does NOT disappoint!  What a beautiful piece of art!! The only problem with the Trevi is that there will always be a crowd of people surrounding it. Not just a tiny crowd…. like a mob… a sea of humans you will have to struggle through if you want to get close up, or want to get a photo.  My advice, wake up early.  Be there at 6:30 AM.  There will be a handful of people, and you’ll take turns getting your snap for the gram without a ton of strangers in your photo!

6:30 am. Minimal tourists!

Colosseum: There are a ton of vendors on the streets leading up to the Colosseum offering tickets to get inside, skip lines, and take tours of the surrounding areas.  We opted the good ol walk around without going inside tour (it was Free.99, and self guided).  Personally, I didn’t care for the use of the Colosseum in the past… overly violent for no real reason, so I was never interested in going inside (Instagram will show you everything you need to see…and it doesn’t look that interesting anyway…*shrugs*).  It was cool enough to see from the outside, though there was a lot of “traffic” in the area.  I was able to find a little hidden spot for a nice photo without anyone in it 🙂

Spanish Steps: We actually ran into the Spanish Steps by accident while walking down a main shopping street one day.  Definitely a nice place for photos, but we didn’t succeed in getting a tourist free shot.  I would assume that a 6:30 AM arrival can get you a nice solo photo here as well.

The Vatican: This was the only thing we pre-booked tickets for, because I wanted to be sure we weren’t waiting in line for hours to get into the Museum, etc.  We chose to book the early tickets into the Vatican Museums, which allows entrance before it is open to the public, so you can walk through the halls, and see the Sistine Chapel peacefully without hundreds of people around.  It was a very early start, but it was so worth it!  The Vatican Museum is basically a long hallway of Catholic art, leading into the Sistine Chapel.  Once you pass the Sistine Chapel, there is still a lot to see before you get to the (very complicated spiral) exit.  We pretty much felt like we had the entire museum to ourselves, until we reached the Sistine Chapel.  You can take pictures everywhere in the museum, except the Sistine Chapel.  A lot of people, including myself, manage to sneak a photo if you can be quick about it.  If the guards catch you, they can confiscate your camera/phone, so beware.

St. Peter’s Basilica: Every Catholic’s dream!  St. Peter’s Basilica is just as beautiful as all the textbooks show!  I was lucky enough to catch the tail end of a mass being held inside.  Though I didn’t understand it completely (it was in Italian), it was still quite a cool experience.  Also inside St. Peter’s Basilica, you will find Michelangelo’s famous Pieta, which was pretty surreal to see in person.  We did purchase a 15 Euro ticket to skip the line, and get right in, though we would have easily been able to stand the line if not for the blazing sun.  Outside, they were setting up for the Pope to do his weekly address.  If we had had more time, I might have purchased the ticket for this, but we skipped it this time around.  Roaming around St. Peter’s Basilica was actually my favorite of the Vatican activities!

Pantheon: So, funny story about this one.  One morning, my adoring husband went out early for a run.  When he returned he says, “Babe, I ran passed this big thing with columns in the front…. it looked important,” to which I replied, “was there a big dome in the back?”  His answer, of course, was “Yes.”  We both laughed when he realized this big thing with columns was the Pantheon.  This is one of those monuments that is right in the middle of everything, so you can easily stumble upon it unplanned.  There is a lovely restaurant called, “Hostaria Pantheon” right across from it where you can sit outside to enjoy a beer, and a lovely view (if you’re hungry, have the lobster pasta. You’re welcome), and, of course, you should go inside if you have the chance.  It does not cost anything to go inside, and it’s definitely worth checking out.  There will be people outside selling tickets to offer you guided tours, but we opted for the self-guided tour 🙂

Water fountains:  As I have already established, I’m a fountain enthusiast.  I was thrilled when I saw all the fountains around Rome.  I was even more thrilled when I found out that you can drink the water that flows freeing from these fountains!!! Yes, it is true.  There are approximately 2,500 water fountains throughout Rome that provide you with free, cold, water straight from the mountains!  No chemicals, just natural spring water.  You will see people filling their bottle at all these fountains.  A little trick: if you don’t have a bottle to fill, you can put your finger in the spout, and the water will shoot up out of a tiny hole on the top of the spout so you can drink it easily! (The images below are not all drinking fountains).

Not a drinking fountain, but a fountain nonetheless!

Also not a drinking fountain. This one is in front of St. Peter’s Basilica.

The sites I mentioned are not all the sites there are, just the ones we chose to seek out and visit.  Everything else, we just kinda found while we were wandering the streets aimlessly!  You will undoubtedly see lots of churches while walking around the city.  Plan to stop inside all of them for a glance, because they are all breathtaking!

FOOD

Food was the ultimate reason I always wanted to go to Italy, and it certainly did not disappoint.  We didn’t plan any of the restaurants we would eat at; most days we walked by, and if something smelled good (it all smells good), we would waltz on it.  This method worked every time.  You will have no shortage of places to pick from.  A walk down any street will look like this: Restaurant, pizza place, gelato place, random shop, pizza place, restaurant, gelato.  The only advice I can give you is to pace yourself.  I’m pretty sure I gained several pounds on that trip.  Hashtag no regrets.

Random: If you’re into the Ancient Egyptians being aliens theory (as we are), look out for the random Obelisks with Egyptian Hieroglyphic sprinkled throughout the city!!  We certainly got a kick out of them.

Rome is a place I definitely plan to visit again someday.  Maybe when I have children, as it was such an amazing experience to actually see what I studied for so many years with my own two little eyes!!!

Until next time – #LauraTheeExplora Ciao!!!