From Roma With Love!

I’m not even sure where to begin. We were in Rome for 6 days but it still felt too short….and it was our 2^nd time there! There are churches, monuments, fountains, cafes, pizzerias, gelaterias, and shops at every turn. And the architecture is stunning. And the people – even more wonderful and full of passion and energy! I think it's one of my favorite cities to just walk around in.

We spent our time in Rome with Darsh’s dad, sister/brother-in-law and their 3 kids. The first couple of days we were moving slow since we had a larger group and Darsh was sick. :( Bummer that we made it through Asia without getting sick and his first 2 days in Rome were spent in the hotel. Lucky for us we had a nice room at the Intercontinental De La Ville (Thanks Kairavi and Todd!! :) so it was comfortable resting the day away. The hotel was in a fab location right above the Spanish Steps and had a phenomenal breakfast….it was a really pleasant way to start each day.

Although there is so much to see and do in Rome….and it can be a bit overwhelming at first for those who like to cross things off their list (yes I am guilty of this), the sights are contained in one area of the city and pretty walkable (as long as you’re good with a map!) and the subway system is easy as well. Our favs by far were the Colosseum and the Vatican (St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel which deserves its own post-next!).

We aren’t really tour people but we decided to join a walking tour at the Colosseum because it allowed us to skip the line. I’ll be honest, I ended up zoning out the tour guide because I like to soak things in on my own. That said, he was pretty good and did a good job describing the life of a gladiator. It is totally surreal to be standing in the Colosseum – you could almost picture Russell Crowe fighting in the arena below. :) No seriously it is an incredible feeling to be standing in an arena with so much history. After the Colosseum we walked through Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum which once was the core of the Roman world and still has many ruins.

We also saw the Pantheon, which was once a temple (now Rome’s best preserved church), Trevi Fountain (so we could throw a coin over our shoulder ensuring our return to Rome, the Catacombs (kinda creepy), and Villa Borghese where we rented a 4-person bike and cruised through the park. The kids also loved the little Merry –Go-Round in the park. :)

Rome has a ton of Piazzas (squares) full of artists, vendors, tourists, and locals just hanging out. We spent some time in a few of them – Piazza Navona (my favorite), Campo de’ Fiori, Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere and Piazza del Poppolo. The Piazzas are crowded with shops, cafes, and trattorias and are fun to just walk around. We loved the Trastevere neighborhood which had a funky, bohemian vibe and seemed to have more locals. Another cute neighborhood was the Jewish Ghetto. This is where the Jews were forced to live years ago. We went to the Jewish Museum (Museo Ebraico) which has a beautifully preserved synagogue.

Now to the food….which was excellent….and I was happy to see that there are some healthy options! Some of our favorite restaurants were Gusto (nice fun crowd and good pizza), Il Chianti (great salad and amazing thin crust pizza), Villa Tor Carbone (by the catacombs, family style Italian food), Vin Allegro (great Happy Hour in Trastevere), and Nonna Betta (amazing falafel in the Jewish Ghetto). Oh and thank god the hotel had a gym so we could work off all the yummy food! :)

I really was sad to leave. Thankfully we actually threw 3 coins into the Trevi Fountain (instead of the customary 1)….so hopefully that will really ensure our return back!!