In my Italy trip report three years ago, I concluded that I would love to return to Italy. What I didn't anticipate was that I returned so soon! Apparently 5 cents were all I needed for the Trevi Fountain to work its magic.
Sights visited: Baths of Caracalla, Church of Domine Quo Vadis (Appian Way), Trevestere, Quattro Fontane, Borghese Gallery, Museo dell'Ara Pacis, Mausoleum of Augustus
Ever since the World Cup in 2014, my desire to see Miroslav Klose in person had been growing stronger everyday. For those who are uninformed, he plays for Lazio, an Italian Serie A team based in Rome. I was also quite certain that he will be retiring at the end of the 2015/16 season. After confirming that my destination for the year was Greece, I looked up flights from Athens to Rome, since the two countries were often coupled together by travelers.
I was delighted to find how affordable and frequent the flights were. I was lucky to have taken Vueling, a budget Spanish airline, instead of the notorious Ryanair. Vueling was cheaper, more straight-forward, and didn't have the stupid non-EU passenger policy Ryanair had.
Of course, I couldn't always be that lucky. Klose was diagnosed with a hamstring injury in August that put him out of play for three months. I already knew 99% that I wouldn't be able to see him play when I was in Rome. I was depressed for a while, but decided to make the most out of my Italy trip.
Not giving up hope, I even waited a bit at Rome's Fiumicino airport, thinking he might have taken the Lufthansa back to Rome from Munich, which he often does for medical consultation. I held on to Ireny's treasured Germany NT jersey, in case I really did see him. Unfortunately, no luck at the airport.
As a solo traveler, I took the most sensible option, Leonardo Express train, into the Rome city centre. The train system hadn't changed since the last time I visited, so I navigated Trenitalia like a boss. Many poor unfortunate souls were caught on board without validated tickets.
The downside of traveling solo was the drop of accommodation level in order to save budget. My room at New Rome House was the smallest I had ever stayed at. There was no front desk, and checking in was done through the owner's restaurant across the street. The only strong point of this hotel was the convenient location steps away from the Termini station.
The bathroom was external, which was a bit inconvenient. I was not a huge fan of the blue lights in every room. Doesn't blue light have a negative effect on sleep?
Breakfast was provided at the cafe across the street, and was of typical Italian fare. I miss my breakfasts in Greece!!! T_T
I had one week in Italy, but had to plan my travels around a Serie A game day. I pretty much stayed in Rome entirely except for two nights at Cinque Terre. Perhaps because I didn't venture too much into the countryside, many of the restaurants I ate at were tourist traps which I don't even bother to write about. One exception I can wholeheartedly recommend in Rome is La Trattoriola di Luca, located in a student district on the northeastern side of Termini Station.
It is true what they say about the area around Termini - it was not pretty. I had to cross a pretty sketchy area and a tunnel to get to the restaurant, but other than scaring myself, I didn't feel threatened walking there at night.
Once I crossed the tunnel, the area around the restaurant looked a lot nicer. When I see a small handwritten menu, I knew I was in for a treat. The restaurant was family run, and the service reflected the same welcoming atmosphere.
I ate here for a total of three dinners. On my first night in Rome, I ordered their seasonal special, Tagliatelle ai funghi made with fresh mushrooms from Tuscany. It was so good, I cried and then shared this photo right away on social media.
They served their own version of a "light" tiramisu, without lady fingers and substituted mascarpone with yogurt. It didn't really taste like tiramisu anymore, but still a delicious dessert.
Asparagus was also in season, so they were offering different asparagus dishes like this amazing soup.
The stuffed squid was my least favourite dish here, but not too bad either.
Their pistachio mousse was so fluffy and light! Best dessert!
Since I had to plan my time in Italy around seeing Klose, I had many "scrap hours" in Rome. I decided to use the time to visit Rome sights that I missed last time. The first was the Baths of Caracalla, a gigantic Roman bath built during the reign of the emperor with the same name.
Photos don't do this place justice, because the buildings were so huge it's hard to appreciate the scale and complexity on photos. The holes in the walls were evidence of the lavish ornaments used for decoration. There were three rooms for each temperature, two gyms, a swimming pool, a library and shops, which reminded me of those large spa centres today. This bath could hold 1600 bathers and the public baths in Pompeii or Ephesus just became dinky in comparison.
The floors were entirely covered in mosaics. Some fragmented mosaics were seen left on the floor in the previous photo. To think that this was a thermae, the Romans really took their bathing seriously.
When getting to Baths of Caracalla, I ran into scammers in the subway who pretend they were official ATAC employees. They bought me tickets then asked me for tips. Do not give in to these people, just refuse and walk away, and there was nothing they could do.
My last visit to Rome I relied entirely on the subways, but this time I had to use the bus to get to my next point of interest. The bus system is considerably more complicated and required a little bit of planning.
I took the bus to the Appian Way (Via Appia Antica), an ancient Roman road that is still being used today. Even though Sunday is the designated "no-car day" and supposedly the best day for tourists to visit, this rule only apply to private vehicles. I still encountered many tour vans coming in and out, so I didn't think biking or walking here was as pleasant as I thought.
Therefore, I only visited the Church of Domine Quo Vadis briefly before leaving. This was the location where Apostle Peter, fleeing from persecution in Rome, ran into the risen Jesus. He asked "Quo Vadis (where are you going)?" and got the answer "Returning to Rome", where he eventually was martyred.
A marble copy of said Jesus's footprints were on display in the church.
After returning back to Rome centre, I briefly visited Trevestere, hoping to find a good lunch. Unfortunately most restaurants were not open this early (11:00 AM), and I had to catch a train to Cinque Terre soon, so I left with only a few photos.
I passed by a few fountains already visited last time, but went out of my way to visit Quattro Fontane. They were four fountains at a road intersection. I was especially fond of the sculptural techniques of the fountains depicting the goddess Juno and the River Tiber.
The Borghese Gallery is a gallery that many people miss on their first visit to Rome, because it's not as conveniently located and reservation was mandatory. Tickets are often sold out, so they were very strict about visitors arriving on time.
I've heard that photos were not allowed in this gallery, but I asked the staff there and they seemed to have thrown that rule out of the window.
Seeing how crowded it already was in the gallery, I could see why they required reservations. The hassle was definitely worth this amazing gallery though! In addition to the impressive sculpture and painting collections, the building itself were elaborately painted in Baroque decor.
Cardinal Scipione Borghese was the initiator that started this vast art collection and also the massive real estate that was Villa Borghese. He was an early patron of Bernini and collector of Caravaggio. There were a few of Caravaggio's iconic pieces in the gallery like this "St. Jerome Writing".
Of course, the highlight pieces gathering the most attention were the Berninis, and "Rape of Proserpine" was the centre of attention. I am not a huge fan of Baroque art style, but still drooling all over these sculptures.
I was having a lot of fun photographing different angle of "David".
"Apollo and Daphne".
Self portraits of the genius behind all these sculptures, Bernini, at different ages.
There were twenty rooms in total and I took the entire two hours (time frame allowed by each ticket) to see everything.
Villa Borghese, which the gallery is a part of, is now a huge public park located on a hill, where I could overlook Rome and Piazza del Popolo.
As a self-proclaimed fangirl of emperor Augustus, I must amend my mistake of missing his Mausoleum last time. The reality was though, the mausoleum was not open to public and look practically deserted and overgrown by weeds.
There was a series of these handwritten boards placed around the mausoleum, which to me looked like a form of street art. Most of them were mocking the maintenance of museums in a sarcastic tone.
Just next to the Mausoleum was the Museum of Ara Pacis.
The museum really only housed one artifact, the "Altar of Augustan Peace". There were a few busts of the Julio-Claudian family members, and also an unrelated modern collection. Not many tourists were interested enough to pay the hefty 11 EUR admission, so I pretty much had the altar to myself.
The altar was built to commemorate Augustus's return from Hispania and Gaul. Its function was civic ritual but more importantly, propaganda. The emperor and his family were depicted along with the deities to remind the Romans that the prosperity of Rome were the results of their efforts.
One of the goals I set out to do in Rome was to try as many gelato places as possible. I tried three new places in total: Lemongrass near the Vatican, Fatamorgana in Monti, and La Romana on Via Venti Settembre.
They were all very good, but Gelateria La Romana was in a league of its own. I only tried the coffee and pistachio flavors but plenty impressed. The flavours were so strong, and there were actual pistachio pieces in the pistachio gelato! This location was a bit of a walk from the tourist centre so I saw mostly locals there, but totally worth the walk! My new no.1 gelateria in Rome!
I couldn't fit all I wanted to write about Rome in one post, so my soccer fangirl experience and a few other Rome sights would be compiled in another trip report. The next entry will be my very out-of-the-way, but very fulfilling excursion to Cinque Terre.
