Rome

So, I had a little pre-Christmas adventure to Rome. It was lacking in Christmas markets (if you want those I highly recommend Berlin), but is steeped in history.

I went with family and we bought tickets for the sightseeing bus, to avoid having to work our way through masses of backstreets. It is nice to be able to plug in the complementary headphones and find out a bit more about the area you are in.

We started out with the Colosseum which cost 12 euros to go inside. It really is quite an impressive Roman structure, that comes complete with disabled access.

Colosseum

The Trevi Fountain is absolutely stunning and definitely worth a visit. I am well informed the best view for photography is at the top of the Church steps in the piazza. It is an immense fountain built against a building and tradition dictates that most visitor throw in a few coins on their visit (money is the one thing they allow you to throw in the fountain).

Trevi Fountain

We visited the Spanish steps, which is at the heart of a good district for shopping.

There are various Basilica (churches) to visit, which are all very elaborate inside. Not being Catholic it intrigued me that each confessional had two spaces for people to confess, to one father/priest. The Churches are historic and ornate with a wide range of smaller chapels around the edge. I saw one that had the body of a previous pope/priest (sorry my Italian isn't good enough to decipher quite who it was) on full display in a glass box. Personally I found that a bit creepy and wondered how sinful it was for me to then take photos of it....

Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore

The Vatican I found rather underwhelming, although I only stayed in the square. The entry for the basilica is free but the queue is massive. Instead I went to the port-a-cabin post office and sent myself a post card. I imagined the whole thing to be a lot shinier on the outside and they had a nativity that just confused me - think several different, unrelated stories all in the same scene. My friend pre-booked a ticket through an agent to go to the Wednesday morning audience with the Pope.

Vatican City

We stayed near Terminii station, which although conveniently located is full of hawkers and beggars (I think one side of the station was worse than the other). Our hotel was really lovely though and there were lots of restaurants nearby to eat in. My favourite was a place called Roadhouse which was inside the station, it is a grill house and the burgers and desserts were so good. However, avoid a place called A-café inside the station - the staff there are unbelievably rude and unhelpful.

Dessert at Roadhouse

There is a direct express train from the airport to Terminii that costs 14 euros and runs really frequently. I would recommend this over getting a shuttle bus or coach as it also is quicker when the traffic is bad.

Rome is a lovely city, full of Roman history. There is a lot that we didn't get to go and see in the short time we were there, but it was worth a visit.