I can honestly say what
we saw upon walking
through these doors was
one of my favorite parts
of Rome
Upon arrival in Rome airport our first
impression was…OMG its madness! But
we managed to make it out of the airport
with our luggage and get our pickup to
the hotel without a hitch.
On route to the hotel the roads were
total chaos, the speed of the cars and
scooters were pretty scary, scooter riders
with no protection! Ouch! Something we
both do not do over here! As we drove
further towards Rome our eyes were
opened with the amount of history that
was just appearing before us, it was like
a pop up book with the various buildings
around us, we just wanted to start
exploring.
Our hotel, Michelangelo Hotel, was a
stone throw from the Vatican City, it was
slightly further out than we expected,
ideal for the Vatican but a good 20
minutes walk from the main part of town,
but we were happy. Upon arrival we
could see the dome of St Peter’s Basilica
from the hotel entrance which was
breath-taking. You could see St Peter’s
from our balcony but you had to hang
out over this and twist your head to the
right a bit, but we were so close it was
unreal.
It was a quick check in, dump bags,
freshen up and we headed off to explore.
We did cheat a bit and grabbed a taxi
to the main part initially which was
64
recommended by the Hotel, we could get
our bearings later after a few glasses of
wine, would be much more easier!
The taxi driver dropped us in one of
the main squares, or Piazza’s. Piazza
Navona. It is built on the site of the
Stadium of Domitian, built in 1st century
AD. It was full of atmosphere. The
ideal place to get a table in one of the
restaurants with a glass of wine and
watch the world go by. We walked
around the Piazza and took it all in and
wondered off the beaten track to see
what we could find. We stumbled upon
what looked like a church, so being
curious I decided to enter, with Alan
telling me not to go in there, but then
reluctantly following me and what we
saw when I opened the door took our
breath away. I could not take photos as
there were people praying and later when
I tried again the doors were closed, for
the life of me I cannot even remember
the name of it, but the memory of this will
stay with me forever.
When in Rome you… stumble upon an
Irish Bar so it was the ideal place to stop
for a drink. We took the evening as it
came, took pictures, watched the street
entertainment and sampled some Italian
cuisine and Limoncello! We stumbled
upon a Limoncello shop with different
flavors, we sampled many and walked
out with traditional Lemon, Pistachio and
White Chocolate. They are now chilling