Italy: Day 3 - Rome & Frescati

 June 4th

Not so much hustling for the AM of our second full day in Italy. We ate pastries in a coffee shop around the corner and then headed for the train station. We realized then I didn’t have a mask which is required for public transportation. I won’t tell you where I eventually found one… 

We then waited for over half an hour for our train to Frascati as it was late. We shuttled over to a beautiful 16th century winery and tasted several wines, learned about the history of the family of wine growers and then had a little snack outside of breads and cheeses. 

We were then shuttled into the town of Frascati to be guided around for a few more bites and sites. Lastly we had lunch at a little spot in town with our group and then departed from there. Our train was once again late and so much so we began to realize we wouldn’t have time to change into appropriate attire for the Vatican tour. We dashed into a clothing store and bought proper masks, sweatpants (Max) and a t-shirt (Allie). We rushed back to the station to find the train still hadn’t arrived. We looked up Ubers, taxis, any alternative to no avail. Once the train did come we rushed aboard and then took a taxi straight to the Vatican. 

We were 15 minutes late but still the group was still there! We were told it was a 90 minute tour which would be perfect timing for our dinner that was 3 hours after the start of the tour. We began the tour and were blown away with the art and history inside. Our guide was incredible and explained so many details about the stories and events leading the creation and evolution of the Sistine Chapel. Well after the 90 minute mark we realized that this tour wasn’t even half over. We unfortunately had to bow out of the rest of the tour and run off to dinner. Even then we were going to be late and called to move our reservation. Lesson learned: the Vatican will take much much longer than 90 minutes — so reader beware!!! The lady selling us the ticket clearly needed to make a sale, so she told us what we wanted to hear. Disappointing to say the least, but we will be back to Rome at some point in our lives and will block off an entire afternoon for the occasion! 

Dinner at HiRes was exceptional. We finally got an Aperol Spritz! We dined on pasta, tuna tartar, lamb, and lobster linguine. We had a dessert sampling from the chef. It was the perfect evening sitting outside, overlooking Rome with the sun fading away in the distance, giving everything that beautiful golden hour glow. 

This was our first international trip together. It was the perfect balance of traveling with friends, drinking, partying, seeing sights, soaking up history, and of course eating as much as we could of local cuisines! I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything in the world! I know we will be back to both Spain and Italy. But until then… 

Con mucho amor,

Allie

Italy: Day 2 - Rome

 June 3rd

5am comes way too quickly. We shuffle, then scooter and finally speed-walk to the meeting point for our 6am biking tour of Rome. The tour ended up being just us and the guide! It was by far the most effective was to see Rome. We were guided around on e-bikes from Trevi Fountain, to the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, to the Roman Forum, and so much more! Our guide was absolutely fabulous from his version of roman history, to his quips and jokes, and an extraordinary picture taker! He had us posing for every site LOL Three hours absolutely flew by and I felt by 9am we had seen all of Rome! I highly recommend doing something like this for Rome, or really any large city. Seeing it in the early hours with less tourists, less traffic, and of course maximizing your time makes the experience worth every penny.

Trevi Fountain

The Roman Forum

The Spanish Steps

We then stopped at a little breakfast spot near the Colosseum for a rest and a bite before heading to our official visit to our 1st Wonder of the World together. It was desperately hot at this point, and we hadn’t thought to bring our water bottles. We drank greedily from the public water fountains that are thankfully all over Rome. 

The Colosseum itself was something that I could hardly fathom. The sheer amount of history behind the making of and events that took place within those walls is hard to believe. Learning more about the history (and Max’s side stories that had more than one set of ears leaning in to hear!) and how Roman architecture, inventions and rules are still some of the basis of our foundations in modern society was really amazing. This culture really is so rich and the history absolutely astounded me throughout our entire visit in Rome. 

From there we starting heading towards the Vatican City (with a pitstop for gelato). A few misconceptions I might pass on to our fellow readers: you cannot just wander into the Vatican City for a quick stop by. I think we were under the impression that you could just buy tickets and then wander through in just an hour. No, no. Not at all. We ended up buying tickets for the following day instead after learning more information. Unfortunately because we were going on a Saturday (right before Mass) we would miss Saint Peter’s Basilica. More on this later. 

We meandered back to our airbnb, and stopped into a market to make a tiny charcuterie snack and drink a few local beers. Max and I love to find a few local eats and drinks at small markets when we travel, so this was the perfect time to do that. 

view out of our Airbnb window

Our feet resisted our shoes as we headed out for our walking Roman Food Tour. It was a lovely group and evening started to cool off. We drank gassosa y vino, ate cheese and cured meats, traditional roman pizza (read: sub cheese for olive oil), a Michelin-star Carbonara, cannolis, tiramisu, and finished off with dessert wines. 

Roman Food Tour

By a power of wills, I convinced Max to hustle to Villa Borghese which we were told last night was the best panoramic views of Rome. No worries, just ANOTHER 30 minute walk with our already aching feet. The views were indeed magnificent. Another beautiful plaza sat below it. It was worth the walk (or at least to me, confer with Max on his answer :P ). As a reward to ourselves we stopped at a wine shop called Enoteca Buccone which was a wine shop from the early 1900s. We were recommended two delightful wines by the merchant there that didn’t even imply that it was near closing time. We drank and nibbled and popped out right before closing. It was the perfect reprieve from all the steps we just accomplished. 

nightcap at Enoteca Buccone

FINALLY our 1st full day in Rome came to an end. Until tomorrow…

arrivederci xx