Rome - The Eternal City

First things first, the flight! I highly recommend an evening flight to Europe so that you don’t lose a day traveling. Arriving in the morning or early afternoon allows for you to still have a full day to explore. You’ll probably be exhausted by the end of the night, but at least you’ll be able to see some sights, have dinner, and get to bed early before your trip really begins.

Buongiorno Roma!

We landed in Rome around 12:00, hoped in an Uber, and started our journey in Italy. The short 30 minute ride was like a mini tour on its own. The Uber driver was hospitable and informative, educating us on the history of the landmarks we drove by. Once we were all checked in, we freshened up, and hit the streets.

First stop, yeah you guessed it, a good ol’ authentic Italian trattoria! My partner found a restaurant, just five minutes from the flat, called Tonnarello. Hands down the best pasta I had ever had!!! I wish I had photos to share with you, but pictures were the last thing on my mind; all I was focused on was the mound of pasta in front of me. I know I already said this, but it’s worth mentioning again, The. Food. Was. Amazing!!!

The traditional Italian meal structure includes five courses: an appetizer, first course, second course, a platter of vegetables (which usually accompanies the main course), and dessert. For our antipasto (before the meal), we ordered a simple insalata caprese (freshly sliced mozzarella, tomatoes, and sweet basil seasoned with salt and olive oil) followed by the primo (the first course), which in Italy is usually pasta. I ordered the spaghetti with mixed seafood and my partner ordered the carbonara. We were so stuffed after the first course that we didn’t dare order the secondo (main course), and we certainly didn’t get to the dolce (sweet or dessert). We did enjoy a few glasses of the house white wine though. I recommend sitting outside on the side of the restaurant just so that you can enjoy the sunset, sites, and crowds of people walking by.

We ended the night with a long walk through the backstreets of our neighborhood onto the Tiber River where we caught sunset. It was peaceful and romantic… a perfect first night!

The Holy City

On the morning of our first official day in Roma, I jumped out of bed bright eyed and bushy tailed, excited to be finally visiting Vatican City. For as long as I can remember, it was a dream of mine to explore the holy city. However, on the walk over, I felt emotionally conflicted as thought about the history of Catholicism, the rise of Christianity, and how the leaders of the church used religion as a tool to conquer and divide. I also reflected on how religion and the church’s disapproval of homosexuality had affected my life as queer woman having been raised Christian. Can you imagine what it must have been like back then, having to combat the natural urge to love another that just so happened to be the same sex? I know I can’t. While the views of some leaders have not changed on this matter, I know we’re making progress because I had the privilege of safely holding my partner’s hand while walking through the sacred city.

At the heart of Vatican City is St. Peter’s Basilica, the square where every new pope is chosen and introduced. 10 minutes up the street and to the right is the entrance to the Vatican Museum. I recommend purchasing a fast track ticket in advance to avoid the long lines. We decided against joining a tour group, instead, exploring on our own using the rented audio tour offered by the museum. This allowed for us to move through each exhibit at our own pace, which, I can’t emphasize enough how important this was seeing as there is so much information to consume at the Vatican Museum. Most group tours last between two and three hours, but given the number of exhibits, artifacts, and artwork throughout the museum, I highly recommend allotting 6-8 hours for your visit. But, to be honest, I’m not even sure that is enough. Either way, I promise you, it’s worth it! See below for tickets and pricing.

As soon as we entered the doors of the Vatican Museum, my jaw hit the floor. It was mesmerizing! One of my the most beautiful corridors in the Vatican Museum is the Galleria della Carte Geografiche. The artwork extends 120 meters in length and every inch is absolutely breathtaking! To think, this masterpiece was created over 400 years ago is mind blowing! The time and attention that went into this piece is something I think the world lacks over all right now. If we were to apply this same attention to detail, patience with progress, and commitment to the achieving of a goal, society would be a better place to exist in. But any who, I digress.

Day two consisted of more site seeing. We kicked off our day with coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, and sandwiches from our favorite local cafe, Caffe Settimiano. I think it became our favorite cafe because we suspected that our server was on the spectrum lol. She was also extremely pleasant and made a mean cappuccino.

After breakfast, we did a little shopping and then embarked on our first site of the day, the Spanish Steps. Only a short distance away was the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. We ended our day with a night tour of the Colosseum.

I don’t want to go into too much detail about each site because this post would end up being a book but, I will say that each site is a must see! However, I do have one recommendation, visit the Colosseum in the morning. While the sun setting over the Colosseum was beautiful, there were way too many people at the site, which made it hard to explore.

Well folks… that’s all I have. Rome, you were amazing! I can’t wait to return to the Eternal City. But, for now, Ciao!