Italy – Rome 6/9/16 – 10/9/16

Wow didn’t want to get out of bed this morning after yesterday’s hike, but a train we had to catch at 8.55am meant no lie in today. A quick pack up of last minute stuff in our cases and we walked to the train station, with enough time for coffee and croissants before the train set off. Another great journey on the train, mostly coastal passing a few other towns we wanted to stay in, but not having the time. Places like Pisa, (famous for its not so straight tower), Livorno (another port town), and so on. This train journey went on forever, over 6 hours, and we were in a carriage with 10 cabins within, each of these had 6 seats. We were squashed in like sardines, our cases had to be left in the corridor outside the cabin, which made the beverage trolley having trouble getting by. After 4 ½ hours we went in search of the so called trolley, as it had only been passed us the once, and staggered between the 8 carriages but could not find it, nor the trolley dolly boy who wheeled it around before. Anyway it was good to stretch our legs.
We had been in contact with our Airbnb hosts by email, who had given us clear instructions on how to get to the apartment. So once at Roma we bought the underground metro tickets and caught 2 further trains. By now we were really over trains as we had been travelling from 8.30am and once at our destination it had turned 5pm. Our digs are great, at the edge of the centre of the city, only a few miles from the Coliseum. It’s a studio apartment on the ground floor, (yeah…no lugging cases up 6 flights of steps), with all the mod cons, it even has its own courtyard off the bedroom, sheer luxury, and we’re here for 5 nights.
So when we arrived we bought a 24 hour underground pass, so the next day we put it to full use. Firstly we headed for the Basilica S Paulo, a very impressive piece of architecture, beautiful and stunning, inside and out and it was free to get in. However there are loads of armed police and army people around, so not sure why this is. On the subway again to see the Coliseum. This place was chock a block with tourists, we didn’t venture inside as there were 2 queues, the first to purchase your tickets, the other which was 3 times as long, to get in. I guess if we’d have joined this queue it would have taken a few hours to get in, there must have been a couple of hundred tourist in this queue! Next the Trevi Fountain, an absolute must see venue. Yes lots of people around, but not a ¼ of the mass at the Coliseum. Spectacular, the stone carvings, the very clear waters, the sun shining onto it, it was amazing. Then a walk along Via Di Corso, Italy’s trendiest shopping street, again lots of people walking on this street, with its pavements only big enough for 1 person to walk along it, and the traffic, wow – cars, lorries, buses you name it, it has to be the busiest street we’ve walked along. At the end of this street was the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II, yet another grand piece of architecture, huge in all its glory towering above everything else around it. In the distance we could see the Coliseum, so opted to walk in its direction. Rome is certainly a huge place, we’d been on the go sight seeing for a few hours, and had only covered about 1km! So we then bought tickets for the “hop on hop off” city sight seeing tour, a 72 hour pass for €32 pp. This should set us straight for the next few days. We were now very tired so went back to our digs as it was reaching 5pm.
Over the next couple of days we took full advantage of the bus/underground, as we went everywhere. However we have found Rome to be the busiest place we come across so far, the tourists are in their 1000s, and we’re in September, past the main summer season. Everywhere you go the queues are massive, trains, buses even walking the streets, its such a place to be.
We opted to go on a night out as we’ve not been out for several weeks, but unfortunately we must gone in the wrong direction. It was a Friday evening, and other than restaurants, no pubs/clubs to be found. On that note unless you aim to eat at the restaurants you have to sit “indoors” if your only having drinks. No good if like us, you love nothing else than people watching whilst having a cocktail whilst sat “outside”.
We weren’t too impressed with the Hop on hop off bus, as the stops for it aren’t directly near the sights. Your on the bus and see something, thinking oh we’ll get off at the next stop, but when you do the bus has taken so many turns to the left and right, you’ve forgotten how to get back! One stop was near the Vatican City, which we just had to do. So off the bus, over the river and a left turn and we were there. A huge place, for some reason the entrance to the Sistine Chapel was closed to the public today, but still there were hoards of tourists around, so we only got to see the outside of the Vatican. A guide approached us selling tickets for tomorrow, and like the Coliseum, you could purchase a guided pass, (which jumps all the queues), for a moderate price, to which we declined. He was very persistent and informed us the ticket included entry to the Vatican Museum, where there were 8km of viewing to be done! we still declined. Back on the bus and got off at the Coliseum, which was a great stop for the underground to our digs, so we kept using this station. The underground system is huge, the 2 main ones are line A (red line), and line B (blue line). These are interconnected by 5 other lines which travel to Romes extremities. All well used by the public and of course locals. The trains themselves are relatively clean and comfortable, however don’t be put off as graffiti artists have made their mark on and in all carriages. Due to overwhelming number of passengers don’t expect a seat unless you get on board at a station just after a major station, these trains are packed. Some have an audio/visual description of where you are on the line and where to exit for interchangeable routes, whilst others, (the older ones), your left to your own devices. Some even have air con. They’re quick and very easy to use, and the underground stations are a great relief from the mid day sun.
Rome has certainly been an experience, the city is vast however the public transport has been the best we’ve experienced. I wonder if it ever has an “off season”, if it does perhaps it could be enjoyed more. Time certainly goes at a rapid pace here so my advice would be to plan the necessities, whilst leaving a little time for spontaneity. Rome certainly has the most amazing architecture from statues and churches to a pertinent buildings and the Roman remains, awesome.
I think we are now in need of some down time, we haven’t had a relax day for months, Rome is so big and we keep losing where we are, we need somewhere a bit smaller as we are a bit overwhelmed with sightseeing in big cities.