Rome… Patheon, Pasta, Piazzas and Prosecco

Roma… the origin of gladiators and freshly baked pasta. I still can’t believe the first time I visited Italy was only a couple of years ago – having travelled virtually everywhere else in the world, there are many countries in Europe which I have neglected.

So  a friend and I decided to take a 3 day city break over a weekend in the Spring, and visit the infamous city of Rome.

We packed SO much into 3 days. We pretty much covered off every  key site. Although if you’re planning a visit, I would say 3 days isn’t enough, or plan to prioritise 2 key attractions per day. We left the hotel at 9am and packed about 5 sites in per day – getting back to the hotel about 10pm absolutely exhausted! (But it was worth it…)

The Roman old town was my favourite area. Most importantly, you have the awe-inspiring Colosseum. My friend paid for an audio/video guide (which I didn’t since I thought was a little bit cheesy, but I was actually quite jealous of in the end!) – which I would recommend. The videos showed reenactments of gladiator battles and lots of other interesting stuff.  Within walking distance you also have the Roman Forum and lovely gardens with views over the city.

Whilst packed with tourists, walking around the streets on foot is the only way to get around and find all the amazing buildings which are not accessible via road.

The Pantheon was pretty astounding. After walking through lots of narrow alleyways we stumbled into a large open plaza, with the circular Pantheon in front of us. We sat outside taking in the view from outside for a while, with it’s impressive large granite columns and the inscription:

M·AGRIPPA·L·F·COS·TERTIVM·FECIT

…meaning “Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, made [this building] when consul for the third time.”

Inside it’s essentially just a large circular template, but the interesting thing is the large round hole (or ‘oculus’) in the ceiling. This is the only source of light and was designed for 2 reasons: to let in light and air (and at least partially to let out smoke from candles, lamps and torches), and to  act as a compression ring, to support the building’s structure. Te columns themselves look straight but in reality they are not – they taper towards the top, for tension and support.

The day we spent (mostly queuing) at the Vatican was totally underwhelming.

However, the last day we spent walking down the Spanish steps, going up the glass elevator to catch the view from the top of the Capitoline Museums, and eating amazing pasta and drinking chilled proscecco in the Piazza Navona was wonderful.

My absolute favourite place by miles was the TREVI FOUNTAIN (so amazing, I have to write it in capitals!). A stunning sculpture surrounded by beautiful blue sparkling water. We went there in the day and came back again in the evening – you get a very different feel at the different times of day.  Tourists come to the fountain in order to throw a coin, which is, according to a local legend, supposed to bring good luck. It was also famous for having featured in a major scene of Federico Fellini‘s 1960 La Dolce Vita.

Some fast facts about Rome for you:

• The city receives approx 20 million global visitors per year
• The 5 most visited places in Rome are: #1 The Colosseum, #2 Pantheon, #3 Trevi Fountain, #4 Sistine Chapel and #5 The Roman Forum
• Rome’s population of more than a million was not matched by any other European city until London finally over took it in the nineteenth century
• The first-ever shopping mall was built by the Emperor Trajan in Rome. It consisted of several levels and more than 150 outlets that sold everything ranging from food and spices to clothes

Check out this site for ’93 random facts about Rome’!