Thursday, March 20, 2014

When in Rome!


This past month, for a weekend, we conquered The Eternal City! We saw various monuments, museums and churches, ate Gelato and Spaghetti Carbonara and we even visited the smallest country in the world; Vatican City.


Our trip started early on Friday morning, leaving Florence at about 8am. We stopped for a quick breakfast along the way and got to Rome at about 11:30 (Making it approximately a 3 hour drive). Our first stop was Vatican City. We had a guided tour through the museums of the Vatican and got to see the courtyard, the famous chimney, various statues and ruins from centuries ago and so many other things in this (if I'm not mistaken) over 14 km long museum. The highlight of the tour was, without a doubt, The Sistine Chapel

 Some Beautiful Paintings and Tapestries inside the Museum.




Michelangelo was blessed by God with an unbelievable talent for painting and creating Art. The Sistine Chapel is probably the largest and most detailed painting in existence. You are literally blown away and left completely speechless when in the room. It is overwhelming because every part of the room is painted from the ceiling to the walls and each painting tells a story from the Bible. You want to look at everything and admire each centimeter, but with all the colors that are capturing your attention it's hard to stay focused. *Note to self: Your neck starts hurting if you get lost staring up at the ceiling for too long, so try and alternate between the ceiling and The Last Judgement. Unfortunately, instead of just keeping quiet and staring at the art to yourself most people are talking and trying to sneak in a picture. So I was constantly distracted by the guards shushing us on the microphone and walking around the room scolding people for taking pictures, deleting it off of their phone then escorting them out of the museum. *Fun Fact: Apparently Fuji Film paid millions to restore The Sistine Chapel, so all cameras and videos are banned due to copyright reasons. 
I got these Pictures from Google for those of you who need a visual image. 

After this we took a look inside St. Peter's Basilica and it's is absolutely stunning. Which comes to no surprise really because not only is it one of the biggest Basilica's of the world, it is home to the Pope and the burial site of Peter, one of Jesus' 12 Apostles. You can also find Pope John Paul's body on display inside…
Then, for those you want a truly spectacular view of Vatican City are encouraged to climb to the top of the Cupola (Dome) and overlook the entire Square. *Note: It's 5 euros to walk and 7 euros to take the elevator. Unfortunately, When in Rome I had to opt for a delicious apperitivo and cocktail instead. Can't say I regret it though because rumor has it that the walk up is super steep and claustrophobic. For an extra two euros, save the free butt workout and take the elevator (Especially if you're planning on hitting the club later, your legs will thank you)!


We checked into Hotel Nord Nuova Roma, near the train station. The hotel was a nice 3-star rated place, with a good quality buffet breakfast and clean rooms. Unfortunately, the internet did not work because there were too many people and the location was pretty far of a walk from the Trastevere and Campo die Fiori area.
For dinner we walked right around the corner to a small trattoria where we had a prepaid meal and fixed menu. We were served bread (no olive oil), spaghetti carbonara (with almost no pancetta), and then what we were told was veal (but tasted more like chicken) with french fries. Yes, those do all sounds like negative feedback but the place overall was not bad. The waiters were friendly and we got two free bottles of wine with our meals! Then the best part was the TIRAMISU! Very good, but still not the best I have tasted. I think when it comes to tiramisu though I am a hard critic because this past summer I ate the best homemade tiramisu of my life in Roccaraso; so I am on a mission to find one that tops it! I called it an early night because our location was far from the heart of the night life and I was too exhausted to walk anywhere for longer than twenty minutes…





















Around 9 am we were ready for our second day of sightseeing. We started off at The Victory Arch of Constantine, right in front of the Colosseum. Then of course we went inside the Colosseum, had our guided tour and took several pictures… There are really no words to express the beauty of the ruins, but just being there you have a sensation as if you are a part of history. I try and picture people walking around in togas and leather outfits and I try to envision the street markets and atmosphere I would encounter had I been living in that time period.

























From here we made our way over to the Roman Forum, which is an enclosed space preserving ruins, temples and ancient buildings. Most of the Roman civilization was structured around this center. There were markets and slave trades, Parliament and political affairs held here, and a burial site for Julius Caesar but a debatable argument as to if he really died there or not still exists.

Next on the list was The Basilica di San Clemente al Laterano. I don't believe many people know about this church but it is definitely worth the visit next time you are in Rome. It is walking distance from the Colosseum and a truly one of a kind church because it has two levels underground. The ground level was built in the 12th century. It was constructed over another two levels one from the 4th century and a pagan worshiping temple from the 1st century. The Basilica is quite simple but what is fascinating about it is that it has been preserved for so many centuries. You can smell the mold on the cave walls while underground… There isn't much written about the history of the church in english, so if you are interested in learning about it I would recommend getting a guide.
 Lunch Time! And we couldn't be happier that it was an included meal already chosen and paid for us. We had to talk quite a hike up towards the station but it was well worth it because the food at this restaurant was better than last night's dinner! To start we had bread (with olive oil, balsamic and even Parm. Cheese) then our Primi Piatti was what you can describe as a hat or a bowl type pasta covered in a delicious broccoli sauce and filled with pancetta or bacon bits. Then, for our Secondi Piatti we had what resembled ground up philly cheese steak and onions (without the cheese) and a side salad. Dessert was actually not to my liking, and having the sweet tooth that I do, it was shocking. But I know I'm not a fan of pannacotta (A pudding or jello like white cream covered in your choice of  topping). Overall though the meal was delicious, and of course free wine was included!



We had the rest of the afternoon free to roam around as we pleased. We ended up venturing into a little side street and finding some small stores and a little urban/modern market exhibit. From there we decided to climb the "The Cake Building" or The Altare della Patria. This building is beautiful and relatively new, it is the largest monument made out of white marble. Here soldiers guard the tomb of the unknown soldier and if you climb all the way to the top of the building there is a relaxing cafe and beautiful views of the city.  *Its free to climb to the top, so definitely do it!


Cafe Marocchino; Its an espresso with a little milk and chocolate; Delicious!





After this adventure, it was time for our night time walking tour of: The Pantheon, The Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Steps and some other monuments along the way…
The Pantheon was beautiful at night, but on Sunday we returned here during the day and I would recommend it because then you can go inside and really admire it's beauty. Of course The Trevi Fountain is a magical place to visit but sadly it is always crowded with tourists and vendors harassing you to buy something--- be careful of pickpockets!
After throwing our coins in and making a wish, we got to witness a proposal, which was the perfect setting for the occasion! But Unfortunately, unlike Lizzie McGuire I didn't find my Paolo in Rome</3
Spanish Steps
Trevi Fountain


Pantheon by night
Pantheon by day























From the Pantheon we made our way over to Trastevere, which is an area in Rome filled with great restaurants, bars and locals. It took us a while to decide on a place, but one specific restaurant caught our eye due to the crowd waiting outside. It's a small place, frequented by all Italians, that serves great food. The wait was definitely worth it because for the quality and price, we couldn't be happier!
I ordered a Roman artichoke to start then a huge Prosciutto and Funghi (mushroom) pizza. The artichoke was cooked to perfection and seasoned just right. I believe the pizza was 7 euro? but it was huge and also delicious! Although I was so tempted to get Tiramisu for dessert, we were right across from the famous OLD BRIDGE gelato store… so obviously that stole my vote. I must say though, AMAZING gelato.  The guy was super nice and let us try a few flavors then even though I only ordered the small size I was able to get 3 flavors! To be honest, I can't remember all the flavors I got =( because this was a few weeks ago, but I do know I got Ricotta Pistachio and it was out of this world!
La Scaletta
Prosciutto e Funghi



Roman Artichoke
Delicious!

Happiness
Old Bridge Gelateria




















So after the feast…. I don't know how…. but we made our way over to an American bar on the corner which was packed with people. All the drinks were 5 euros (which is a great price, avg. is 7) There is a drink called a Threesome because it's 3 shots then a chaser, it looks super cool, try it out! There's dancing here so you can easily stay all night but we decided to try out some other places. Walk up and down the street and there are plenty of options to choose from. The night was great, but walking back to the hotel was a bit of a struggle because it took over an hour and we were exhausted. *The metro stops working at 12 but I'm sure if you split a cab with a few people it's not too expensive. 
Sunday, we started off the morning by going to the catacombs. It was pretty cool and worth the trip but honestly I thought the outside was prettier than the inside. We got a good history lesson and felt the chill of the corps that haunt the catacombs running through our bodies. It's huge inside and sort of creepy; I couldn't help but think what if I got locked inside over night? I think I would die of a heart attack. Thankfully I made it out alive and all was well.
Before heading back to Florence, we returned to Trastevere for lunch at a delicious trattoria (which I will mention the name on my food post later on). When I saw Carbonera on the menu again, I knew I had to give it another try. This one was filled with pancetta and it was even better than Friday's plate but I came to the conclusion that it does not really complement my palate. I had homemade carbonera once and it set high standards that I was disappointed with when it came to the real deal but we did get amazing warm focaccia bread with olive oil, to start off, along with regular bread and we got free dessert which was a small cream puff covered in a light cream. Don't worry it was free just because we were pretty girls or anything, I think it's free for everyone, but you know I like to pretend I'm special!



















Time to head back and even though Rome is a beautiful city filled with history, art and adventure… Florence is home and home is where the heart is!



















Ciao Roma!