Back from Rome

24/04/2009

Rome was amazing! we arrived back in Edinburgh on sunday the weather here was actually decent which was surprising.

We left early and arrived in rome friday morning around 11am we managed to catch a coach into the city. I was still alseep while we were driving into central Rome but once we got on the edges of the city center and began to witness the amazing architecture of the older buildings from the Roman empire, how bold and beautiful they are I quickly woke up with awe.

Sadly alot of the normal buildings were littered with graffiti which is a real shame as it makes the area really run down.

We finally arrived outside the termini and headed for our hotel nearby. The hotel itself was pretty basic for a Four star hotel, kind of expecting more I guess but its location was excellent, right in the heart of the ancient city of Rome

Hop on.. Hop off

We got ourselfs some tickets for the open bus tours with only 2 days we wanted to at least see as many of the major attractions Rome had to offer, captured a few good pictures while on the bus too.

Luckly we caught the culture week which ment all attractions and museums were totally free!

Managed to cover all the places I wanted to visit Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps, Vatican City, Fontana Di Trevi, Roman Forum. However the one I most wanted to see..

Colosseum

I was really looking forward to this great building and I wasn't disapointed, as we were walking towards it, I thought it was going to be alot bigger but its not until you get close that its actual size and scale starts to dawn on you. The building is one of my favourites, while most of it is ruins you need to utilise the power of imagination and put yourself back in the time of the romans when the place was filled with people all shouting and cheering on the slaves/gladiators against all manner of beasts in amazingly recreated habitats. Really is a breathtaking moment in history.

Yeah.. but what the food

Ok..Ok.. I didnt really have a good idea of where to eat so for lunch we just headed for the nearest place.. bad idea the first place which was nearby the colosseum felt like a kind of like a chain restaurant the food was really plain and my friends lasange was like sheets of pasta and tomato sauce where was the meat or even vegetables?? luckly we did some reading for our dinner and decided on Pizza Ciro near Fountain Di Trevi the food was great the house pizza was really nice above all the food tasted fresh also add the service was excellent.

Day two we ended up just eating toasties and folded over pizzas lol for lunch after a long days walking. For dinner we again went with recommendations from the guide book I bought (AA Citypack guide) this time it was a place not far from the colosseum called Nerone, we had our best pasta of the trip here we each tried others dishes and they were all tastey.

So.. how was it

I would recommend everyone to go visit Rome, the buildings are beautiful and its a really historic place to be. Having seen the most important places Im not so sure I would go again think its time for a new adventure somewhere else.