48-HOURS IN ROME: DAY 1
11:34:00
So after a conference trip in Orvieto, I snuck a 2-day trip to Rome. Obviously, I've read everywhere that you can never cover one of the most popular tourist attractions and most historical cities in the world in 2 days, but it all comes down the time you've got (and money), since I lacked in both, 2 days was all we have, hehe.
So upon reaching Rome from Orvieto, we walked to our Airbnb that we had booked in advanced prior to this trip. Our Airbnb was about 25-minutes walk from Roma Termini Railway Station, and I'll be honest here, the walk from Termini wasn't all that pleasant. It was a bit dodgy and dirty and even the neighbourhood where we stayed had that unpleasant vibe, considering we paid a considerable amount for it. But the good thing was, it was close to many pizzerias, cafes and most importantly, located just adjacent to one of the best gelateria, Fassi Gelateria. After checking in and dropped off our bags, we took an Uber to the Malaysian Embassy to visit my dad's old friend who is an ambassador there. After a short chat, we were then dropped off to start our wander around Rome.
Trastevere
We started off from Trastevere, which was located on the west bank of the Tiber River. It is a charming neighbourhood, famous for their romantic Italian alleyways with amazing and large variety of food choices from their outdoor street cafes. The area is popular amongst tourists and also locals to hang out and party. The area is also famous for their picture perfect piazzas and churches, which we didn't manage to get around.
From Trastevere, we then walked along the Tiber River under the shady trees because it was starting to get very hot as noon approaches.
Largo di Torre Argentina
We stumbled upon the Largo di Torre Argentina, which was the remains of Pompei's Theatre and some Roman temples. It was said that this was the place where Julius Caesar was murdered, and now has become a cat sanctuary - apparently, more than a hundred cats live here now (I'm not sure if the numbers are correct though).
II Vittoriano
We walked further until we reached II Vittoriano, also known as Altare della Patria, Monument Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II or if that's a mouthful to say, it's also known as the 'wedding cake' cos it looks like one. Located in front of Piazza Venezia, this building is a monument to honour the Victor Emmanuele, the first king of unified Italy. The building is huge and quite impressive, and features stairways, Corinthian columns, statues, water fountains in the surrounding landscape. Entrance is free, but you are not allowed to sit anywhere in this building. You can climb up the stairs to a terrace, which will offer 360 degrees views of Rome, in which you can also spot the Colosseum from a distance. Because it free, it's totally a must visit attraction in Rome!
We then continued our walk along Via dei Fori Imperiali, which was a road from the II Vittoriato and led us straight to the Colosseum. The road was obviously full with tourists and street sellers, artists, performers and was a lively and happening roadside. When we reached the Colosseum, we were too tired to take any photos, so we just sat right beside the Colosseum, on Piazza del Colosseo, having some snacks and enjoying our view of Italy most visited and famous landmark.
We had some rest that evening and went back out for dinner. We found a nice Pizzeria which sells pizzas of various toppings (and delicious too!) and a very reasonable price! After that, we then stopped at a cafe (Snack Bar Roma Lazio) for some after meal coffee (getting adapted to the habit very easily there, haha) - the coffee was great! On our way back to our apartment now obviously, we gotta give this gelateria a try, so we stopped (again!) for some yummy gelato before calling it a night.
My guilty pleasure midnight treat at Fassi Gelateria.
So upon reaching Rome from Orvieto, we walked to our Airbnb that we had booked in advanced prior to this trip. Our Airbnb was about 25-minutes walk from Roma Termini Railway Station, and I'll be honest here, the walk from Termini wasn't all that pleasant. It was a bit dodgy and dirty and even the neighbourhood where we stayed had that unpleasant vibe, considering we paid a considerable amount for it. But the good thing was, it was close to many pizzerias, cafes and most importantly, located just adjacent to one of the best gelateria, Fassi Gelateria. After checking in and dropped off our bags, we took an Uber to the Malaysian Embassy to visit my dad's old friend who is an ambassador there. After a short chat, we were then dropped off to start our wander around Rome.
Trastevere
We started off from Trastevere, which was located on the west bank of the Tiber River. It is a charming neighbourhood, famous for their romantic Italian alleyways with amazing and large variety of food choices from their outdoor street cafes. The area is popular amongst tourists and also locals to hang out and party. The area is also famous for their picture perfect piazzas and churches, which we didn't manage to get around.
From Trastevere, we then walked along the Tiber River under the shady trees because it was starting to get very hot as noon approaches.
Largo di Torre Argentina
We stumbled upon the Largo di Torre Argentina, which was the remains of Pompei's Theatre and some Roman temples. It was said that this was the place where Julius Caesar was murdered, and now has become a cat sanctuary - apparently, more than a hundred cats live here now (I'm not sure if the numbers are correct though).
II Vittoriano
We walked further until we reached II Vittoriano, also known as Altare della Patria, Monument Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II or if that's a mouthful to say, it's also known as the 'wedding cake' cos it looks like one. Located in front of Piazza Venezia, this building is a monument to honour the Victor Emmanuele, the first king of unified Italy. The building is huge and quite impressive, and features stairways, Corinthian columns, statues, water fountains in the surrounding landscape. Entrance is free, but you are not allowed to sit anywhere in this building. You can climb up the stairs to a terrace, which will offer 360 degrees views of Rome, in which you can also spot the Colosseum from a distance. Because it free, it's totally a must visit attraction in Rome!
We then continued our walk along Via dei Fori Imperiali, which was a road from the II Vittoriato and led us straight to the Colosseum. The road was obviously full with tourists and street sellers, artists, performers and was a lively and happening roadside. When we reached the Colosseum, we were too tired to take any photos, so we just sat right beside the Colosseum, on Piazza del Colosseo, having some snacks and enjoying our view of Italy most visited and famous landmark.
We had some rest that evening and went back out for dinner. We found a nice Pizzeria which sells pizzas of various toppings (and delicious too!) and a very reasonable price! After that, we then stopped at a cafe (Snack Bar Roma Lazio) for some after meal coffee (getting adapted to the habit very easily there, haha) - the coffee was great! On our way back to our apartment now obviously, we gotta give this gelateria a try, so we stopped (again!) for some yummy gelato before calling it a night.
I'll stop here for our day 1 in Rome, but will be posting about the places we visited on our 2nd day soon, and also my thoughts on taking the Hop-On-Hop-Off Sightseeing Bus. Until then!
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