I went to Rome with my mum & dad for 6 days to do the whole city break thing which I've never done before. It's suppose to be part of my graduation & 21st present. We did all the toursity things, went to the Colosseum, Vatican City, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, the giant war memorial & many more that I'll get into with photos.
We had to get up super early 3am! To drive down to Manchester to leave it at a car park. We'd already checked in & only had hand luggage. Our flight was at 6:55am. We thought the flight was going to be like 4 hours turns out it was only an hour & half/2 hours didn't realise how close Italy was! Also the whole flight I could see the ground which was weird not sure if we were flying really low or it just wasn't cloudy because I've never experienced that before?
Stairs are so steep!
There are different floors to the Colosseum with parts you can walk to the main amphitheatre bit & inside where there's information & different things to see. You can walk all the way around it. It's crazy to think how old it is & how it's still standing now! Even though parts of it has been damaged from the wars & over the years it's crazy to think how people built this with their bare hands all them years ago.
Bush that looks like a horse! Don't think it's meant to be shaped like that, think it's just fell.
My mum wasn't very good at directing my arms to the right place...
The Colosseum ticket gets you in the Roman Forum which is just across the road from it. It is just ruins from what used to be important government buildings with 2 arches each end of the forum.
We then walked to find the Trevi fountain, on the way we went to the Altrare Della Patria which is the giant war memorial.
If you pay €7 you can go up this lift which takes you up to the roof giving you 360 degree views of Rome! I wanted to go up but my mum wasn't keen.
Man with a crazy tri-pod then used his iPhone to take the photo!
Mum got an espresso
I got the one with bacon
Mum got the carbonara
Dad got the one that had just tomato sauce
We had to get up super early 3am! To drive down to Manchester to leave it at a car park. We'd already checked in & only had hand luggage. Our flight was at 6:55am. We thought the flight was going to be like 4 hours turns out it was only an hour & half/2 hours didn't realise how close Italy was! Also the whole flight I could see the ground which was weird not sure if we were flying really low or it just wasn't cloudy because I've never experienced that before?
We landed at Fiumicino airport then got the train to Ostiense station which was the cloest one to our hotel. It cost us €8 each but because we bought them from a person in a kiosk they charged us an extra 50 cents on top of each ticket! We then tried to follow the instructions I got from Google maps to direct us to the hotel. We got there eventually & turned out it was just a straight walk down to the end of the road then a right! But Google maps was telling us to go down all these little roads so useless!
It took us forever to find a hotel as I wanted one with a nice bathroom, modern, had wifi & AC. All the ones in the centre were more expensive & were definitely still in the old Roman times that need updating! I ended up getting the bigger double room as my dad gave me that key & I just went in & settled so couldn't be bothered swapping with my mum & dad who had the smaller room which still had 2 single beds.
Once we settled & put everything down we went on the computers & had search what was near us & my dad found some square so we thought we'd go walk to find it. I was so tired & could barely keep my eyes open as I only got about 3 hours sleep & couldn't sleep on the plane. We ended up walking into where people live cos my dad seen some church but I just couldn't walk any more so we headed back to the hotel & I was in bed by 6 that night!
Day 1 - Colosseum, Roman Forum, Altare Della Patria & Trevi Fountain
I had the worst nights sleep kept waking up every 2 hours thinking it was time to get up. Eventually got up at 7am went down for breakfast which consisted of croissants, cheese, ham, bread, cereal, mouldy fruit, cakes, tea, coffee, biscuits, yoghurts. Continental breakfast.
Yep this was the fruit we got every morning. We did say complain but they only took some of the fruit then put new fruit which was just as bad in. But we found out that Italian fruit is horrible. It doesn't have any taste as we bought peaches from different stalls the furry one & smooth one both weren't nice. Apart from the watermelon that was good!
We walk to the metro station which is a 10 minute walk from the hotel & got it straight to the Colosseum. Once we walked out the station bam it was there! We wasn't expecting it at all!
Once you get off at the Coloseo stop & walk out this is what you see!
Bag - Topshop
Top - H&M
Shorts - Zara
Shorts - Zara
Shoes - Nike Free Run+
Stairs are so steep!
There are different floors to the Colosseum with parts you can walk to the main amphitheatre bit & inside where there's information & different things to see. You can walk all the way around it. It's crazy to think how old it is & how it's still standing now! Even though parts of it has been damaged from the wars & over the years it's crazy to think how people built this with their bare hands all them years ago.
Roman Forum
Bush that looks like a horse! Don't think it's meant to be shaped like that, think it's just fell.
My mum wasn't very good at directing my arms to the right place...
The Colosseum ticket gets you in the Roman Forum which is just across the road from it. It is just ruins from what used to be important government buildings with 2 arches each end of the forum.
We then walked to find the Trevi fountain, on the way we went to the Altrare Della Patria which is the giant war memorial.
Piazza Venezia
Altare Della Patria
If you pay €7 you can go up this lift which takes you up to the roof giving you 360 degree views of Rome! I wanted to go up but my mum wasn't keen.
Man with a crazy tri-pod then used his iPhone to take the photo!
I actually had no idea what this monument was when we seen it but it holds the tomb of the unknown soldier with an eternal flame which is the photo with the 2 guards. You can go inside to the church where people pay 50 cents to light a candle.
Trevi Fountain
We then walked to find the Trevi Fountain which is pretty well hidden amongst buildings!
Yep this is the "fountain" no water... Covered in scaffolding. There's a bit of a reoccurring theme with scaffolding as you will see in the next couple of posts. But the fountain is currently closed as they're doing repairs. There is a path to walk over the fountain which we didn't do. There is a small pool of water from the fountain where you can throw coins but I didn't see it. It's annoying because I was really looking forward to seeing it after seeing pictures online of how amazing it looks especially at night! I wish we knew about this beforehand as it's expected to remain closed till next October!
We then just kept walking...
We eventually found a restaurant to have dinner at. They had a deal, bruschetta, 3 different types of pasta, carbonara, tomato & wasn't sure what the other was until it came & fruit for €12.
Mum got an espresso
I got the one with bacon
Mum got the carbonara
Dad got the one that had just tomato sauce
Fruit was watermelon!
The food was quite salty especially my mum's carbonara & the bacon in mine but it was nice I enjoyed it!
We then walked to the metro station & went back to the hotel ready for the next day of exploring Rome!
A lot in this post as I think it this is the easiest way to get everything in without having like 10 different parts to Rome. Everything in day 1 done.
This post took a lot longer than planned but I should be able to get part 2 up tomorrow!
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