All roads lead to Rome. At least that's what it seemed like when a friend began her Erasmus placement in the city at the top of my bucket list and a Ryanair email advertised 'cheap flights to European capitals this Easter!' Safe to say, I took little persuading.
The above photo is deceptive. I arrived on Saturday afternoon to thunder clouds and lightning bolts - a dramatic welcome and exciting start to a whirlwind weekend. I couldn't help but find the dark clouds looming over the Vatican reminiscent of the scenes in Dan Brown's thriller, Angels & Demons. Perhaps it was lucky the Pope was in Malta after all!
After glimpsing Rome by night we woke up to blue skies and sunshine! Fuelled by croissants and coffee, we set out for what was perhaps the longest day of my life. Starting with the 400 steps up to the cupola of the Vatican, we proceeded to cover another 35,600 over the course of the day! But our early start was rewarded by catching the end of mass as we looked down into the Basilica from the top of the mosaicked dome.
From there we hit the streets, meandering past Castel Sant'Angelo and over the river and into the old heart of Rome. Though unlike the distinctive 'old town' of many cities, pretty much the whole of Rome constitutes 'old', hence the many miles covered. We walked to the Trevi Fountain and past the Pantheon then ascended the Spanish steps into Villa Borghese where an unexpected highlight presented itself - turtles and ducklings!
After a focaccia and gelato pitstop in Piazza del Popolo - the first of many! - we set out for the Colosseum at the opposite end of town. Thinking we'd give our feet 10 minutes rest, we hopped onto the bus for what became the most expensive 2 minutes of my life. (Count this as your warning - you cannot buy tickets on the bus and the fine collectors are NOT friendly!!)
Thrown off the bus after just one stop, we walked the rest of the way which might just have been fate, seeing as we arrived in time for golden hour! Seeing The Typewriter (Victor Emmanuel II monument) and the Colosseum in direct succession was pretty incredible - both for their contrast and their size!
Chuffed with ourselves for 'seeing all of Rome in a day' (certainly not true but definitely what our feet would've said if they could talk), we had another quick pit stop (sensing a theme?) back at the apartment before catching a bus (ticket firmly in hand) to Trastevere for dinner. I took hardly any photos but just imagine fairy-lit cobbled streets, overflowing bars and bowls of the best pasta of your life on checked tablecloths - pretty ideal.
Day 2, *3? (it felt both like day 1 and week 5) started with a bus trip to the station to bid farewell to one friend and a walk back to the Vatican to meet the other. Despite its size, the scattering of some of the biggest and best monuments in the world makes Rome fairly easy to navigate - even for the geographically impaired (just ask my family!)
Hanna and I then spent Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning revelling in Rome's beauty, re-visiting favourite spots from the previous day (Villa Borghese and the Roman Forum, if you're interested) and developing our gustatory appreciation of the city..! Some highlights were fried Jerusalem artichokes, Strozzapreti pasta (which translates to 'strangle the priest' - Dan Brown missed a trick!) and of course coffee galore!
Then it was airport time for me, departing in a characteristically chaotic manner as I queued for a bus driver-less bus. I was beginning to wonder if I might just have the greatest silver lining of all time and be forced to stay a few more days. Alas!
But I managed to smuggle boxes of Bacci chocolates past Ryanair which I call a big win!