Celebrating in Italy! Rome Part 1

Celebrating Fifteen years together in Italy was AmAzing! From the flights to the trains, our hotel stays, the food, the shopping…our conversations! Pure joy!

We started planning this trip about two years ago. With what started out discussing what seemed to be a dream became our reality this spring! I am so excited to share with you some of our travel adventures in Italy! If you have already been, I hope this blog will take you back to the special memories you made there and re-live some of those Italian scenes you once enjoyed. If Italy is not yet a place you have experienced, I hope this will help you to get an idea of what it’s like or to even inspire you to start planning a trip of your own;-).

Let’s get started! Off we go to a place so packed with history along with its beautiful and long lasting architecture…Rome! To imagine all that took place there and who possibly stood in the very spot you were standing in, you get a little overwhelmed!

Roma Pass

We arrived in Rome in the morning. First on the agenda was to purchase the Roma Pass…it gives you the first two museums entrance fees, discounts on all other museums, unlimited bus and metro use, and the most important-no waiting in line!!! The pass we chose worked for three full days and was 30euros a piece. We picked ours up in the airport as soon as we landed.

Where we stayed
Next we found our hotel and dropped of our bags. I found Hotel San Anselmo on TripAdvisor. It sounded just like what we were looking for… a boutique hotel just far enough away from all of the touristy spots to give us a better feel for what the locals live like. That’s exactly what it was and more!! It was so beautiful and we got upgraded for no particular reason. That was a nice surprise! Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what you would expect:-)

Our room number was 826

The breakfast room and outdoors

Breakfast was included in the price and coffee was made to order…we had cappuccino every morning:-) It was made perfectly! My keurig at home is nice, but one can easily get used to having their own barista and fresh squeezed orange juice from the orange tree out back;-)
A few more hotel pics

The Colosseum

After settling in our hotel, we were off to explore! First attraction on our list was the Colosseum. We rode the metro and found it took us right to it. Once we walked up the metro stairs, there it was!

We went back and forth on purchasing a special tour, but in the end decided to download Rick Steve’s free podcast and listen together as we explored this amazing piece of architecture. So glad we did! We were able to roam about without being told where to go without any extra cost:-).

You can find this podcast and more on the Rick Steve’s audio Europe app. The podcast really helped us enjoy and learn what we were actually looking at.

The Roman Forum

We then took a stroll through the Roman Forum here are a few pics.

It was amazing to walk through this once bustling town center! Imagining what it might have looked like back hundreds and hundreds, over a thousand even, of years ago.

We even found Caesar’s tomb. It was probably the least impressive of the tombs we saw in Italy, but impressive non the less. Again, I have to thank Rick Steve’s for giving us a wonderful tour through this forum. We would have not of even found Caesar’s tomb if it weren’t for listening to his podcast on the Roman Forum.

After grabbing a couple of panini at a local food stand, we continued on to find Rome’s Capital building.

Spanish Steps

We then found the famous Spanish steps. I was a little underwhelmed by these. They are steps, just lots and of lots of steps! My favorite cousin warned me about the flower salesmen here, and I’m so glad she did. Don’t let them hand you one, and don’t make eye contact unless you want to buy one of-course;-). I personally liked these steps better in the movies, like in Roman Holiday.

Here’s me on the steps. My daughter wanted me to twirl like Audrey Hepburn, I told her there wasn’t enough room to twirl, lol! Maybe next time?

Piazza Navona

Then we took a coffee break in the beautiful Piazza Navona. It was a must do! Even though it was the most expensive cappuccino we probably had in Italy, it was nice to sit, relax and soak in the surroundings. Beautiful fountains designed by Bernini, live musicians, and one of my all time favorites-people watching! I gave Jason a lesson on how to people watch without seeming like a stalker or creepy person, lol;-). Here we are enjoying this lovely piazza.

Trevi Fountain

We left there to make a visit to the Trevi fountain. Yes, it was extremely crowded! I am really glad we endured the crowds and got to see this fountain up close, it is beautiful! We did take a few short videos tossing a coin in. I will be posting them and a few others on a separate blog in the near future just dedicated to short videos. To give you a live visual of our favorite Italian moments. So for now, arrivederci! Make sure to check back soon for my part two of Rome and other blog posts on our most amazing trip to Italy and remember Travel’s just A Dance Away! TADA!

I leave you with a pic of the Trevi Fountain and a few of the fountains found in Piazza Navona.