48 Hours in Rome

Late at night on Friday 1st December we flew out to Rome for a little getaway to celebrate my fiancé's birthday. The first excitement was our upgraded rental car... hello Audi A3 convertible! Driving through the city in the early hours to the hotel was certainly an experience, we then grabbed a few hours sleep ready for the morning's adventures.
Take a deep breath and some coffee, we packed a lot in...

A crazy dash through an unfamiliar transport system and we made it to our morning tour, of the Colosseum. It's certainly worth booking a tour; it enables you to jump the queues and access parts of the incredible Flavian Amphitheatre (the "correct" name, as we were informed) that the general public can't, such as a large platform at the base of the arena. 

When the tour was finished, we set off to explore the Palatine Hill and Roman Forum. In hindsight we should have done this as a tour also; it was difficult to know what we were really looking at! 

Time for food: I was famished by this point. Attempting to find somewhere off the beaten track, away from the tourist traps was our downfall; I was absolutely starving by the time we finally found a decent place to eat. This proper Roman Carbonara and the frascati we had with it was worth it, however. 

A 35 minute bus journey and a walk later, we were at the Vatican City. 

The Pope wasn't there, sadly. I had some thoughts for him. The queue to enter the Basilica and Sistine chapel were absolutely insane, I'm not sure we would have made our flight on Sunday night had we joined the queue on Saturday afternoon. Added to the list for the next trip! We didn't stay long but it was a wonderful place to look around. We also learnt that you can sell literally anything if you put a picture of the Pope's face on it. 

Next on our whirlwind tour, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain. And Sephora, but what's a girl to do? After a large debate about what happens when it rains in the Pantheon (there's a hole in the middle of the domed roof, we dutifully threw our coins into the fountain to guarantee a return trip to Rome and it was back to the hotel for some much needed sleep. 

The next morning we climbed the Spanish Steps and looked out over the city, got some gelato and wondered what there was left to see in the short amount of time we had left. We were aiming for a Christmas market, which Google Maps, usually so reliable, informed me was at Piazza Navona. Sadly, we discovered that it hadn't yet arrived in the city, but we were entertained by giant bubbles and a Michael Jackson impersonator in the square. 

After lasagne and some souvenir shopping, we were off to zoom around in our rental car with the top down and the heating on high before heading to the airport. We headed to the seaside at Ostia for the sunset.

An action packed weekend, not much of a relaxing holiday but a refreshing change from exams and work. It would be really easy to spend a weekend in the eternal city in an eternal queue, but we've proven that with a bit of planning (except at lunchtime on Saturday!), it's possible to fit everything in!

A xxxx