When in Rome...

Cam and I decided months before he came that we wanted to go somewhere while he was here. It came down to Italy or Spain, but ultimately, Italy won over because, well... it's Italy. We left December 15th to head to Manchester International Airport to catch a flight to Rome.

December 15th:

I always said I was going to keep it real in my blogs. The journey from Hull to MIA was terrible. The direct train we were going to take to Manchester Piccadilly was canceled and we weren't notified. We looked at probably 15 different combinations of ways we could get to Manchester and still make it in time for our flight. Finally, we decided to wait about an hour to get the train to Leeds and change to a different train going to Manchester Airport. When we got to Leeds, we found out that they had just canceled all trains going into Manchester for the rest of the day for engineering work. There was an electrical error on one of the lines. We got a cab from Leeds to MIA, which was much more expensive than we wanted, but the only way we wouldn't miss our non-refundable, in-exchangeable flight (thank you, Ryanair).

The flight to Rome was smooth sailing, but we had boarded late and we arrived later than we intended. We tried to get a bus from the airport to a bus station, so we could walk to the Airbnb, but that ended up not working out and we got a cab. When we finally got to the airbnb, it was past 9 PM and our flight was supposed to have landed at 6 PM. The next challenge was locks in Italy. We had no clue how to unlock the door. Some kind lady helped us figure it out, but not after 30 minutes of struggling. We hadn't eaten anything all day, so we found a random restaurant that was close and opened, had dinner, and went straight to bed.

December 16th:

The first thing we needed to do was pick up the city passes we had bought. We headed to San Giovanni in Laterano, a beautiful Basilica, to pick up our passes and to see the gorgeous architecture and artwork. After seeing the Basilica, it was a short but rainy walk to go see the Colosseum. The Colosseum is a lot bigger in person, and it's super cool to see - even if you aren't all that into Roman history. The tickets we had gave us access to the Colosseum and the Roman Forums near them.

The Roman Forums were huge, with buildings, temples, fountains, museums, houses, statues, gardens, the whole nine yards. It also offers one of the best views of the city. There was an orange garden with over 100 orange trees that we wandered into, ancient archways, and lots of sections of giant statues. We were able to see Palatino, but we didn't have the chance to stop by.

After leaving the forum, we went to Angelino al Fori Dal 1947. This was our first real Italian meal which included bruschetta, spritz, pasta, and gelato. If you've heard it once, you've heard it 1,000 times: gelato is much better than ice cream.

It was a short walk from Angelino al Fori Dal 1947 to the Capitoline Museum, which was home to statues from the time of the Roman empire, had the history of Rome, and beautiful art. Unfortunately, part of the museum was closed because there was a wedding being hosted there. However, we saw a lot of really cool things - even if we didn't have access to the whole collection.

On the walk back to the Airbnb, we got to see more of Italy and we stopped at Caffe Negresco for more gelato. We decided to go to Ristorante Pizzeria I Fratelli, one of the most popular places in the city and a five minute walk from where we were staying, for dinner. It was delicious and the staff was all super kind.

December 17th:

On the 17th, Cam and I headed to Vatican City. We walked down small streets with colorful buildings, passed the Colosseum, and hopped on the bus that would take us towards the city.

Vatican City is considered its own country. Before crossing the international waters to leave Italy and go to Vatican City (via a bridge) we grabbed some gelato as a form of breakfast. We started our day with the Vatican Museum, which was cool, but I'm sure it's even more cool if you're Catholic. They had lots of old statues and art, a stunning garden, and a lot of artifacts stolen from Egypt that were roped off from the public.

After leaving the museum, we walked around Vatican City for a bit, which included visiting St. Peter's Square and getting lunch at Osteria Delle Commari. One of my favorite things to do in Europe is explore castles, but Cam had never been to one before. Fortunately, Vatican City is home to Castel Sant'Angelo, so Cam and I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the castle and watching the sunset from the top of the tower.

We left Vatican City and took a night ride on an opened top, double decker bus. Traffic in Italy around 6:30 PM is no joke, what should've been a 30 minute ride was over an hour. But we rode by beautiful buildings, saw twinkling lights, and passed a giant lobster wearing an egg suit.

After our night ride we had a class to learn how to make homemade pasta and a three different versions of a spritz. We made our own cacio e pepe, met another couple from NC, and learned that we both really love Aperol Spritz. While walking back to the Airbnb, we passed a McDonald's and decided to stop by for a midnight snack. Italian McDonald's is better than any of the other McDonald's I've had. After getting our order, we headed back to the Airbnb for the night.

December 18th:

Cam and I started the morning by going to see some local shops. We stopped by Trimani Vinai in Roma Del 1821 (a wine shop, to get my mom Italian wine), a random bookstore, and Caffe Villa Mercede to pick up some breakfast pastries and waters. We walked back to the Airbnb and enjoyed our pastries on the balcony that overlooked the city before we headed out to do some sightseeing.

We started with a riding on the same opened top, double decker bus and saw everything we had seen the night before in the daytime. We got off at the bus stop that was nearest to the Trevi Fountain, one of the things I most wanted to see while we were in Rome. We had gelato from Elisa Gelateria and enjoyed the view we had of the fountain. It's nearly impossible to get close to the water during the day time it's so busy.

After finishing our gelato, we hopped back on the bus and went to a more central area of Rome, near the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. The streets were closed, so we got to enjoy the lights and the street performers while people watching. The Pantheon wasn't far from where we were, so we walked down closed streets and random alleyways with cute shops and cafes to go and see it. We got there just in time before they stopped letting visitors in and spent part of our evening there.

After leaving the Pantheon, we walked back towards where we had started and noticed that the National Museum of Palazzo Venezia was opened. There was a place where people could look at the city, so we decided to go and check it out before finding a place to eat dinner. The city was beautiful from so high up, and there was a cute cafe called Espresso & Co at the top of the museum where we stopped for a snack. I had the best tiramisu of my life and Cam had some cheesecake.

After the cafe, we walked through the museum towards the exit, stopped at a bathroom in the part of the museum that was underground, and then walked to a random restaurant we had found called Edoardo II. We had a delicious, three course meal under gorgeous Christmas decorations before we headed back toward the Airbnb. Before getting back, we quickly stopped at a souvenir shop across the street to get a couple things to remember the trip by.

December 19th - Cam's Birthday:

Cam turned 23 while we were in Italy, which meant we had saved an exciting part of the trip for his birthday. We got up before the sun and headed to the meeting spot, Piazza del Popolo, for our group tour that was taking us to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast.

Our trip started with going to a small cafe on the side of the motorway for a quick breakfast of fruit-flavored pasties. Afterwards, we headed to Archaeological Pompeii, where we were taken on a private tour around the city. I had taken a year of Latin in high school and had learned about Pompeii, so it was exciting to see what I had read about in real life. We took about two hours to tour the town and get pictures of all the different types of buildings before it was time to head to the Amalfi Coast.

On the way to Positano, we made a couple of stops. One at Sorrento at a gorgeous overlook to get some pictures of the sea, and another somewhere along the Amalfi Coast to switch from a bigger tour bus to smaller minibuses that could actually drive down the winding streets in Positano.

Once we got to Positano, we went to a restaurant on the beach called Chez Black Positano that overlooked the Tyrrhenian Sea. Cam and I both ordered pizzas, and they were the best pizzas we've ever had. We walked back towards the minibus and passes by pastry shops, a Christmas market, and shops full of lemon-themed trinkets. We decided to get a variety of pastries from Collina Positano Bakery, some for the road, some for that evening, and some for breakfast the following morning.

On the way back to Rome from Positano, our tour guides told us about how the Trevi Fountain at night was a must see, and how if you throw a coin over your shoulder and make a wish, your wish will come true. When we arrived in Rome, we were about 15 minutes away from the Trevi Fountain and made the split decision to go visit one more time before we left. Because it was late at night, there was hardly anyone at the fountain and we were able to walk right up near the water. We enjoyed gelato from Don Nino Gelato, made a wish, and watched the couple beside us get engaged.

Then we headed back towards the Airbnb, but walked a little ways up the street to Saltinlocca Vino e Cucina for dinner. We ordered pasta, cocktails, and tried some of their made-in-house cherry wine to wrap up Cam's birthday before headed out to pack.

December 20th:

On the 20th, we double checked that we had everything and headed towards the airport. The airport had a bus that took you from your gate to the plane, which was packed. The guy sitting beside Cam and I had bare feet the whole flight.

We arrived in Manchester, went through customs, and basically sprinted to make the train going from the airport to Leeds, where we would change to a train headed towards Hull. We made it in time, but the train had been canceled. We went with Plan B, and rode from Manchester Airport to Manchester Piccadilly and then hopped on a train that went straight to Hull.

We got back into Hull a couple hours later and immediately set off to do laundry and repack our bags. The next adventure, and my family, was coming soon and we needed to be ready.

In order: A statue from the Capitoline Museum, Cam and I at St. Peter's Square, Rome from Castel Sant'Angelo's Tower, the Streets of Italy at Sunset, Cam and I at a Cooking Class, Rome from Above, Minerva Statue at the Capitoline Museum, the Roman Forum, Cam and I at the Colosseum, Cam and I Getting Rained On in Rome.