Rome - Day One

We arrived in Rome Fiumicino airport at around 3pm after a 2 hour flight from Gatwick. The airport is about 40 minutes train journey outside of Rome and we cleared customs quickly. We didn't have any hassles getting the train from the airport (the Leonardo Express) which dropped us off at the Termini Station in Rome. Luckily, I had the foresight to pick our accommodation very close to the train station, so it was a mere 5 minute walk to our hotel. We were checked in and free to start exploring by 6pm.

[caption id="attachment_674" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="The view from our window."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_675" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="Our ancient looking hotel building."][/caption]

Our place was about 2 seconds walk from the San Maria Maggiore church, so we wandered in that direction and took a few photos of the façade from both sides. I couldn't go in yet as I was wearing shorts (it was a very lovely evening, very warm for this time of the year) and there is a very strict dress code for the churches in Rome.









We wandered down a beautiful narrow side alley with cobbled streets (which is actually the norm in Rome, so just imagine that from now on) and a couple of turns later we had found a big old medieval tower that seemed to serve no purpose standing in an intersection and another old church.



From here, we wandered on to a park with a couple of ancient ruins and toppled pillars that our guide book didn't even really bother to point out. I believe they were all part of Trajan's baths. Up ahead, we could see the top of the Colosseum and so headed towards that.





It's a truly impressive monument and as the images show, the sun was setting and the place was closed for the day, but still drawing the crowds. Right next to it, parts of the ancient Roman Forum are visible.

I just want to mention at this point that we bought a Rome guide book the day before our flight and really hadn't planned any sort of itinerary for our trip. This actually worked to our favour, as Rome's the kind of place where you just end up tripping over ruins, so the guide book was essential for us to actually know what we were looking at. It also suggested walking routes that would take us past a lot of interesting things, so we were able to use it to direct the chaos of our wanderings a little.

Having said that, we needed to cement a plan for the next day, so we went in search of a cheap restaurant that was recommended by our guide, in our neighbourhood (Esquiline), and actually ended up going to a place next door that we liked the look of better. We dined alfresco and embarked on a 3 course meal comprised of a primi, secondi and dolce.

[caption id="attachment_683" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="Primi: Spaghetti alla bolognese and Spaghetti alla carbonara."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_684" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="Secondi: Saltimbocca (veal wrapped in prosciutto) and Spezzatino di Vitello (veal stew)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_685" align="aligncenter" width="620" caption="Dolce: Tiramisu and espresso"][/caption]

And this concluded our first evening in Rome, with plans to get up early the next morning and head to the Vatican City to see the basilica and the museum.