Last week, we went to Rome for two days. We left early in the morning to catch the train. We could have taken the fast train but decided to go the slower route and cheaper route. The only train was at 5:15 AM! Mamma Mia was I tired! But surprisingly the train ride went quickly. When we got on the train for Rome everyone else was getting the train as well! It was packed. Mom and I sat back to back to each other.
When we arrived, we headed for our hotel. Since our room wasn't ready, we left our bag with the hotel and headed out into the city. It was only 9am, so we stopped at a cafe and had breakfast. Once we had our breakfast, I headed towards the Trevi Fountain. It is my favorite place in Rome so I wanted to make sure we saw that first. Along the way we stopped at some sights and took pictures.
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| The first church we stopped at: Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri |
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| Piazza Della Repubblica |
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| Piazza della Repubblica |
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| Piazza del Quirinale |
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| Fontana di Trevi |
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| Trevi Fountain |
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| Church next to the Trevi Fountain |
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| The Trevi Fountain being cleaned! |
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| The galleria |
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| My favorite street: Via Veneto |
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| Borghese Gardens |
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| Villa Borghese |
After wandering around Rome, we decided to eat lunch. We just happened to eat at "Mamma Angela's" :)
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| Mom got lasagna. I thought why order lasagna when we make it at home but it was really good! |
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| Gorgonzola and sausage pasta |
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| Mom wanted dessert...she twisted my arm |
After lunch, we decided to check into our room since it was now ready. We both took a nap since we got up really early to catch the train. After we got our act together we headed out and continued the adventure. We started at the Spanish steps and wandered through the streets. The streets were really cute and quaint. We loved it. Then we headed towards Piazza del Popolo. On our way to the piazza, I spotted a GAP store! I thought there weren't any GAP stores in Italy but I guess it might be new. We walked in just to say we were there. Then I asked mom ever so kindly if we could go into H&M. She knows what happens whenever we go into stores...we usually end up with a bag in our hand afterwards. Sure enough we did. :)
We made it to the piazza and admired the scenery for a bit then decided to sit down and people watch. We sat at a restaurant in the piazza and had some wine as you can see below. I was debating whether or not we should eat something little for dinner or completely skip it and just have wine. The waiter first gave us some potato chips to go with our wine. I ate one, no problem. Then I ate another one and it tasted like fish so I stopped eating them. I figured ok, no more chips. Then I looked at the menu again. We decided on fried mozzarella. The mozzarella comes and I took one bite and I told my mom it was fish. She thought I was making it up. Why would I make something up like this! She knows how much I don't like fish! :) So we asked the waiter what I was eating and he said, Mozzarella and anchovies. Why in the world would you put anchovies on mozzarella! OMG! So Mom ended up eating the whole thing. I decided the universe didn't want me to eat dinner but encouraged me to drink my glass and my mother's glass of wine :)
The next day, we decided to head towards the Colosseum. We stopped for breakfast first then continued with our day.
We saw the Colosseum then decided to go through the Roman Forum. But, when we saw the line we decided to skip it since we wanted to see other things that day. We were disappointed but I came to the rescue. I found a secret spot that led us right to the forum. We didn't actually go through it but we saw quite a bit for free! :)
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| The Roman Forum |
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| Roman Forum |
After the Roman Forum, we ventured on our way again. But first stop was to go to my other secret spot to overlook the city of Rome. While we were at my secret spot thanks to my uncle for discovering it, we watched children eat their lunch in the park. As we were walking by, we heard "Angela!" and then "Caterina." We both looked at each other because the teacher was obviously scolding the children. But, how did they know our names! :)
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| The view |
On our way to the Vatican, we wandered and got ourselves lost on purpose. Mind you, I don't get lost :) I like adventure. We saw this park and many other cute streets and alleyways. We stopped for lunch. As we were eating, the middle and high school had gotten out and there were teenagers everywhere. It was interesting to watch because teenagers are the same no matter where you are. I felt bad for them since I know how difficult and awkward those times are...
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| Mom's Primavera Pasta with tuna |
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| Pasta Siciliana :) With eggplant |
My mother was about to start swearing at me because we had walked a lot. But we finally made it to the Vatican.
After walking through St. Peter's, we headed for Hard Rock Cafe. I figured I would be in Italy for awhile and how could I pass up the opportunity to have a burger. :)
After the hamburger, we ventured back towards the hotel to grab our bag and then to the train station. We took the high speed train home. Only 1 hour and 10 minutes. We enjoyed our time in Rome but we were exhausted. We took the next couple of days to lay low and do absolutely nothing. :)
