Friday 16 August 2013

Italy Again?! (London -> Rome -> Pisa -> Vatican -> London)

I just got back from a 4-day trip to Rome and I am blogging my experience swiftly when it is still very fresh in my memory. Since this is my first time in Rome my focus was on the standard touristy stuff and not so much on the off-the-beaten-track things one could do in Rome. I had a month before my trip to come up with the itinerary and being the planning freak that I am, I had a plan for every single day. Of the 4 days, one day was dedicated to a day trip out of Rome. After considering Naples, Ostia Antica and Pisa, I decided on Pisa, since Rome itself has enough to offer in terms of ancient ruins and an Italy tour is not complete without a picture next to the leaning tower. DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Rome guide book really helped us get around Rome very easily. It has a concise pull-out map, streetfinder maps, metro and bus routes, history on all the sightseeing places in Rome and much more and was extremely easy to use.


We flew Alitalia from London to Rome and stayed at Hotel Colosseum. Hotel reviews to be added towards the end!

The first day was filled with the usual sightseeing including the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palantine Hill, Spanish steps, Trevi fountain, Pantheon and Piazza Navona of which I was awestruck at how much of the interiors of the Colosseum is still standing. It is such a magnificent structure and  gives you goosebumps to think you are standing in an arena which was actively in use 2000 years ago! I took a zillion pictures in the Colosseum. Although I could have stayed there the whole day, I was forced to leave by the scorching mid-day sun. I read in several places that August is off-season in Rome but there were tourists everywhere and all the tourist spots were massively crowded. It was very difficult to get a picture of yourself without 10,000 strangers in the frame. I cannot imagine how crowded Rome would get during the peak season. Nevertheless, the Colosseum was awesome to explore. I booked my tickets to the three monuments here. The queue to the ticket counter was unbelievable and I was so thankful I did not just turn up at the Colosseum. For those without pre-booked tickets, I recommend getting it from either the Forum or the Palantine hill because queues there were much shorter compared to the Colosseum. We then moved on to the Roman forum which is right next to the Colosseum. Going through the ruins at mid-day wasn't fun. The heat was pretty intense and the entire Forum got quite dusty from the wind. Still I was looking forward to seeing the pillars of the temple of Saturn. It helps to have a good idea of the layout as it is quite huge and you could end up going in circles! If I had known better I would have visited the Forum after the Sun had gone down, but the good thing was there were drinking-water fountains everywhere and having a bottle to fill up is a must. This was followed by lunch and some cooling off in the hotel before heading to the Spanish steps and the Trevi Fountain.

The Spanish steps is a set of steps leading up to a nice church and overlooking a small fountain. We took our first metro ride to Spagna, the nearest stop to the steps. The metro lines are very easy to master as there are only two and switching between them can happen only at the Roma Termini station where they meet. They are considerably cheaper than the London metro and cost only €4 for a day ticket and €1 for a one-time journey and to our surprise the trains were air-conditioned. We walked most of our first day and walking between the tourist spots could take up quite a bit of energy and most of them could be reached on the metro. The Spanish steps is an ideal place to end your first day in Rome sitting lazily with a gelato and doing some hours of people-watching. Trevi fountain was well-lit and looked very grand in the evening. I did not do the much hyped coin throwing since it was too soon to decide whether I wanted to go back to Rome in future! We had no energy left from the sun and the walking hence decided to do the Pantheon some other day.

Our second day was Pisa day! We travelled to Pisa on a Saturday mainly because trenitalia has a buy-one-get-one-free offer on tickets and that is a good €84 you can spend on something else. The train journey takes almost 3 hours one way. Once at Pisa Centrale station, we walked 20 minutes to reach the tower (yes more walking!). The first sight of the tower was superb. The basilica and the Duomo add to the beauty of the tower along with the lawns which have some of the greenest grass I have seen so far. The tower offers wonderful photo opportunities and if you have sometime to kill before your train back to Rome, people-watching is an absolute must! You are sure to see some really funny poses of people trying to get a picture of them leaning on the tower or trying to straighten it up! Don't shy away from taking this picture of yourself, trust me you wouldn't be alone! Our return train was not until late in the evening, hence we took a quick bus trip to Tirrennia to see the much famed Italian beaches there. The bus ride took 15 minutes and costs €5. Be sure to carry your swim suit as everyone there was heavily under dressed! The beach was beautiful and the sun was ideal for sun bathing. We went back to Pisa for some night shots of the tower and headed back to Rome.


Third day in Rome was planned for the Vatican, the smallest country in the world. We took the metro to Ottaviano San Pietro and walked to St Peters Basilica. The queue to the Basilica wasn't bad at all. But be sure to dress sensibly if you don't want to be asked to cover yourself up by a guard in tuxedo and RayBan's in front of so many people! The basilica was extremely huge and the domes had some really awesome paintings. Under the main dome was Bernini's baldacchino which looked majestic and exquisite under the sun rays falling through the dome. We went up the cupola by climbing 551 narrow and claustrophobic stairs to see the stunning top views of the Piazza and the city which made the climb totally worth the effort. For those determined to climb the cupola, I suggest skipping going up the elevator in Vittorio Emmanuelle II monument. From the top of the basilica you can even see the monument in a distance. Outside the basilica there is a line of tacky souvenir shops selling the usual ghastly souvenirs like the laced hand fan with the pope smiling on it! But if you look around patiently you will find some really good pieces for a bargain.


After the Vatican, we headed to the hotel for the much needed escape from the scorching sun, rested for a while and started towards the Colosseum to capture its beauty at night. This is one of the best things I did in Rome, aimlessly walk with just the camera and the tripod from the Colosseum to the Vittorio Emmanuelle monument. I highly recommend everyone going to Rome to do this, not only will you get fantastic shots which expose a completely different view of the monuments but also enjoy how the pavements come to life with colourful fruit shops, painters, write-your-name-in-Chinese stalls and a million other small but interesting shops. Even the laid back attitude of tourists sitting along the pavement fills you with joy. The Colosseum looked amazing at night, I have more shots of it at night than in the sun. Going around Rome at night is a must as it makes you look at the city in a completely different light.




On our last day in Rome we tried to cover the places we had kept for later, the first stop being the Pantheon. The pantheon aka "temple of all gods" is almost 2000 years old and is the world's largest unreinforced dome. It was being prepped for a mass and was unfortunately not open for visitors. From a glimpse of the interiors, the floor looked very intricate and we got a few pictures of the altar. From there we moved to Piazza Navona mainly to see the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi translated to "fountain of four rivers". This is a Bernini designed 16th century fountain in a very lively piazza and offers good photo op. We then went back to the hotel to head to the Fiumicino airport for our flight back to London Heathrow. We took the metro to Ostiense and from there took the FR1 line to the airport.

My Rome holiday was more a tourism trip than a relaxed vacation. There is always a lot to see in Rome and it depends on how much you are satisfied with, else there is going to be more and more churches and museums to visit and you are going to have to leave unsatisfied and frustrated. Try not to pack your day with too many things to do, have enough breaks, always carry water and dress sensibly.




As for the hotel, I was not very impressed with. The reception staff seemed kind of rude at times and the double room had the smallest shower one could fit in a corner. Breakfast was very average and the least one would expect in an Italian hotel is good Cappuccino, but the coffee was terrible and we happily skipped breakfast 2 days out of 4 knowing we weren't missing anything. Still I would recommend this hotel if you are just looking for a clean place to spend the night and it is ideally located within 5 minutes walking distance from the Colosseum and 10 minutes from Termini station. Just don't go with too many expectations and for all you know you might be pleasantly surprised!