Rome

Not Long ago my Wife Johanna and myself were a few days in magnificent Rome.Preparing for a trip takes time and effort, and is part of the trip itself. It was enjoyable reading up on Rome. Books, Blogs and travel sites were all a part of the planning process.

We decided to live just outside the City center in the Trastavere area. We found a wonderful place to stay, where Mother and son, Anna Maria and Mike rents out a part of their apartment. It was clean,comfy and very easy to get to from the Airport. The city center was 15 min by tram. Anna Maria was all one could desire in a host. A small, talkative Italian lady with  perfect English to compliment her very Italianishness.

The best part about living here was the sense of being alone as tourists. I actually didn’t see a single one in the area where we stayed. The prices and people were all very Italian.

Day one we settled in. We went to a resturante down the street and ate the first of many pasta and tiramisu dishes.

The second day we went to the Vatican city state. I would actually recommend pre booked tour guides for everything. But if pre booked is not the case, a good way to find one on site, is to do the Colosseum and Roman Forum day first, and be on the lookout for a good guide. This way you can use this Guide for the Vatican also. They are far easier to find at the Colosseum, than the Vatican City. you will not need to stand in the endless lines of people wanting to get in. The tour guides have there on way of getting past these lines.

Day three was spent at the Colosseum and Roman forum. As I just mentioned, I would recommend getting a guide here the first day of your stay and doing the Vatican later.

Day four we met Johanna’s old classmate Lovisa, and she took as on a small backstreet tour with a Coffee shop stop and Ice cream stop. Later that day we visited the Capitol museums by the Roman Forum.

Rome is a place you stumble upon the most amazing places. Like when I asked Johanna;

“look here is a door and its open, lets go in”

Johanna ” eh nja, there’s cool things to see everywhere, lets wait”

Daniel ” ok wait a sec let me just see what it is”

Johanna ” Ill wait here for you”

1 minute later i pop my head out and said:

“Johanna, come this is where Paul and Peter sat in prison just before they got executed.”

Amazing isn’t it. This place was just by the Roman Forum by the way and worth a pop in, like everything else. (on the pic the upside down cross is the way Peter got executed and has been put in place in rememberance of his death.)

If you haven’t been top Rome, Go! We went in April just before the heat and high season kicks in. Anyways it was marvelous.

Here are a few links to help you started planning and helpful tips:

Buy  a Roman tourist pass for 20 euros. Included is free tram and bus rides your whole visit. Two museum entries which alone is worth 20 euros plus a lot more.

Lonely planet

hostels club this is what we used to book the place we stayed.

below; a short travel video of Rome