When In Rome, Do as the Romans

Ahh Rome! For the last two years I have been telling my dad that I would go to Italy. Instead, I ended up in the States, well, little did he know that I would be able to pack in a trip to Italy as well! I took an overnight train from Switzerland to Rome - left at 7.20pm and arrived in Roma at 7.30am the next morning! When I got to Rome I bought some breakfast (Brioche Marmellata - it is to die for!!) and did a little bit of planning, then leisurely made my way to the bus stop to go and meet my couchsurfing host. Unfortunately, that particular day all the public transport was on strike!!! I was so lucky that I was couchsurfing and was able to call my host and ask him to pick me up. He had to pick up another couchsurfer as well, from another station, so while I waited for him I had a quick look around the streets surrounding the station, went to an Italian supermarket, bought some postcards, was proposed to by an Italian man who bought me a bottle of water (strange to say, but this is not the first time I have been asked out by men who buy me bottles of water!) but he was a kind hearted soul and was harmless. I politely refused the man's proposal, and was grateful when I was finally picked up by my couchsurfing host in a beautiful long black convertible! He drove us around the city with the top down, I was in the back, hair flying everywhere, loving every minute of it.

 

How better to experience Rome than to drive through it in a convertible?!!

We went to lunch in a local Italian restaurant, I had the best gnocchi I've had in my life. We then dropped our luggage off at his awesome rooftop apartment with great views and lovely balconies, and went out for proper Italian gelato - now this was really something special. 

My couchsurfing host

My first taste at authentic Italian gelato: Strawberry, After 8, and macaron (yes, it was actually gelato stuffed with macarons!)

Now, in Rome it seems there are gelato shops and gelato shops. Some have a range of standard flavours, of course all are delicious, but the place my host took me to was a real gelato shop - they had so many flavours I could not believe it. It took me 10 minutes just to decide what to have. It was the best gelato I've ever tasted in my life, and was better than all the other gelato I ate in Rome.

After the gelato, the other travelling couchsurfer and I went to the city for a while, we strolled around Piazza del Popolo, saw the sunset views from the Borghese gardens and walked to the Pantheon. We got home around 9pm and went out to dinner at another local restaurant, I have to say, I ate really really well on this trip, like a proper Roman!

Piazza del Popolo 

Rome at Sunset

All the famous names!

The next day, bright and early I headed for the Vatican. I already had bought my ticket so was able to bypass the line (best decision ever!). Of course I was looking forward to the Sistine Chapel - you hear so much about it - but what was really such a surprise for me was just how beautiful the other parts of the Vatican were. Every ceiling was painted, everything was beautiful and ornate and incredible. In fact, it was all so beautiful that when I went into the Sistine chapel, I wasn't all that impressed. The artwork was exquisite, but there were few windows so it was quite gloomy, and there were so many people, and they were disrespecting the rules (no photography, no loud talking) - I have to say it did marr the experience a little. But I found a spot sitting on the side, and I listened to an audio guide I had downloaded which talked me through each section of the ceiling. My time at the Vatican was simply magical.

Wow!!! Painted ceiling in one of the corridors at the Vatican

I left the Vatican after spending hours there, and headed for St Peter's Basilica. Upon entering the Basilica you are hit with this incredible vision of mammoth size and beauty. Everything is generous, lavish and ornate. The ceiling soars so high, the floor is so spacious, there was so much to see. It was breathtaking. The things that man has made for the glory of God, really special. I spent a long time walking around and experiencing it, it was lovely and cool inside - such a refuge from the searing heat outside. And it felt so far away from time and reality, time became meaningless. There were statues everywhere. I didn't even manage to find Michelangelo's Pieta which I was disappointed about, but I wasn't too concerned, there was so many other incredible sculptures.

Bronze statue of St Peter - the feet have been made toe-less from thousands of people touching them over the years.

Amazing rays of sunlight filtering through the windows at St Peter's Basilica

I finally pulled myself away from the church and back to reality. It was 4pm and I hadn't eaten. So I grabbed a gelato and headed toward the Pantheon to get a good look inside (it was closed when I went there the night before). By the time I got there I found out it was closed to the public so they could hold a mass. I asked if I could attend the mass, they let me in! So I was able to go to a Roman Catholic Mass, in the Pantheon, in Rome. It was an unforgettable experience! I could not understand a word of the language, but the singing and the organ and the acoustics of the Pantheon were so amazing to me.

The Pantheon

After the mass I headed back to my couchsurfing home and met some more couchsurfers who were going to stay with him. There were 5 of us in total, and our host decided to drive us out to the beach for sunset! We got there just in time to see the sun disappear over the horizon. We took photos, chatted and put our feet in the warm, warm water of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

At the beach, on the Tyrrhenian Sea (part of the Mediterranean Sea)

Hanging out with my Couchsurfing friends at the beach at sunset

Just before midnight we left the beach and had authentic pizza in yet another fabulous local restaurant.

Eating 'real' Italian Pizza in Italy!

The next day was my last day, and my train left at 3pm, so I decided to pack in a few more sights - the Spanish Steps, the Fountain of Trevi, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and Palentine hill, and Circus Maximus. Sounds like a lot, but I managed to do it in plenty of time - even with time to get breakfast at a local cafe. I had my last meal in Italy - a delicious lunch of lasagne at a restaurant near to the train station.

The Spanish Steps

Roman streets

Dropping my coin at the Fountain of Trevi 

Guess what this building is!

Me looking like a turtle with my house on my back at the magnificent Colosseum. The Colosseum itself is looking very bare now, but what made it so neat for me was the audio guide I had downloaded - it really put things in perspective and created the original atmosphere for me. 

The Roman Forum

The Roman Forum

Circus Maximus! (looking a little baron and abandoned)

I was exhausted. I got on the train for my 6 hour journey and slept and slept, well, that is until I got a text from a couchsurfer in Switzerland inviting me to the Montreux Jazz festival, to which I immediately replied yes! I got off the train one stop early, went to the Jazz festival until after midnight and then came home for a good sleep! What a fabulous time!