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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Buongiorno Roma!- Day 1

The airline had promised to deliver my luggage by 7 pm the evening I got in, but at 8 pm, there was no sign of my luggage, and when I tried to call them to find out the status, no one picked up. 

Even though I was jet-lagged, I had to do some shopping for underwear and toiletries since I had a 6 am flight to Rome the next day. (Note to self: always travel with underwear and a change of clothes). So I went to Italy wearing the same clothes I arrived in (washed them the night before) and the underwear and toiletries I bought. I wasn't too worried, I had an excuse to go on a shopping spree in Italy!

We had purchased a bus pass at the airport in Barcelona, so once we arrived we headed to airport shuttle that would take us into the heart of Rome. (We didn't have to do customs since we were still in a Schengen State).

The bus ride was about an hour and a half I think, I slept the entire journey. When we got off the bus, we had to walk for about ten hours half hour to get to the hostel we were staying. Thank God for Ipads and Google maps!! We must have gotten lost about three times before we found The Colisseum Lodge, our home for the next two days.

We were a bit unsure of what to expect when we got to the hostel since we had made the reservations online. We were met by our friendly host Sarah, who took my "luggage" and guided us to our room. It definitely was not a Sandals Resort, but the room was very clean, and we had a private bathroom, which was all we needed. After giving us our keys, she handed us some tickets and told us we could go and have breakfast a block away.

After breakfast, we went to see the Colosseum which was five minutes away.

Breakfast- coffee and pastry
We decided not to do the tour that day, but we walked by and took some pics.

Colosseum

After our "photo shoot", our plan was to do some shopping, get some food, do some more sight-seeing and plan the itinerary for the rest of our trip.

We knew we wanted to see The Vatican City, and the Trevi Fountain for sure, the others we would just play by ear. I also wanted to eat as much as my stomach would allow me to eat.

My shopping spree didn't go as planned because I really did not have much luck finding clothes I liked. Yes, this was Italy, but it was fall, so majority of the stores had only sweaters, boots, and long sleeved clothing :(. I live in a tropical climate, so I did not want to waste money on clothes I could not wear back home. We walked for a bit, until I eventually found some jeans and tank tops.

After "shopping" we were starving, so we decided to get some food. We stopped at this cafe, I can't remember the name of it, and with good reason! We got some paninis and coke. I can't even tell you how anything tasted, I was that hungry. What I do remember though, is that our server was very unfriendly and they charged us an arm and a leg 7 EUROS!!!!! for a small glass of coca cola! (coca cola cost Euros 2.50 In Barcelona). 

We had dinner at one of the best restaurants I have ever been to. "Il Tajut" is a very small and home-y restaurant. It was not very crowded (It was a bit hard to find as there was not a very visible sign), and we had dinner in a room lit by just candles and with soft romantic music playing in the background. They serve traditional Italian meals, really great wine, and is relatively inexpensive. The waitress was very friendly, even though her English was not that great, and the chef came out to greet us as well. We chose this restaurant based on the Trip Advisor reviews, and we were not disappointed! 

We ordered smoked trout with strawberries, mozzarella and lettuce as the appetizer, Goulash for the entree and chocolate balls for dessert.

Smoked trout with strawberries, mozzarella and lettuce

Goulash

Red, Red wine

chocolate balls
We decided to walk off the food and just strolled about for a bit without any specific destination in mind. Eventually, we ended up at The Trevi Fountain. It was the perfect ending to a great day.I definitely recommend visiting in the night. It is really a spectacular sight. I also recommend you buy some gelato, sit at the fountain for a couple hours and just people watch. (my pics below doesn't do the fountain any justice!)

Trevi Fountain


Trevi Fountain
We ended our first night on a high and I could not wait to explore the more of Rome! Day 2 will be posted soon!

Enjoy!



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