Roaming around Rome... an anniversary Eurotrip ♥ {part one}

At the beginning of May we were lucky enough to spend four days in beautiful Rome. You may remember in this 'this week's happiness' post back in December that I spontaneously booked our flights with Easyjet whilst lying in bed one evening feeling very sorry for myself and craving a holiday. I managed to get return flights to Rome for the two of us for a bargain of £120! And with the hotel booked a couple of months later all we had left to do was count down the days until our minibreak. May 5th finally arrived and off we went - a 4am alarm, suitcases packed in the back of the BMW, a reservation in the long stay car-park at Gatwick and a breakfast in Pret a Manger. Is there anything better than a pre-flight breakfast?! We were so excited to be spending our 3rd anniversary in one of the most romantic cities in the world.

I've been looking forward to blogging our trip to Rome, apologies that I haven't done it sooner! But it's been a nice excuse this week to look back at all our photos and be reminded of what an amazing few days we had. I've split this up into two blog posts, because I was far too snap happy!! I hope you're ready for a photo marathon...!

It was Rob's first time in Rome but it was my third, as my family have a villa out in Italy. Never the less I was super excited to be back in one of my favourite European cities and I was so looking forward to Rob seeing all the sites which had taken my breath away on previous visits. After landing at Fiumicino, we got a hairy cab ride into the city centre {Italians are the scariest drivers in the world} and checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Mercure Hotel at Piazza Bologna - we chose not to totally overspend on accommodation as we figured we'd be out pretty much all day every day. Sometimes I like to go all out with hotels but I don't think total luxury is a necessity on city breaks unless you don't plan on leaving the room...! {I'd totally recommend The Mercure though, located just a few stops up on The Metro from Colosseo.}

After a quick outfit change {Rome greeted us with 29 degrees sunshine!!} we headed straight out to explore and enjoyed vino blanco and pizzas with a cracking view of The Colosseum whilst we flicked through our Lonely Planet guidebook. We decided to spend our first afternoon wandering with no agenda, just soaking up the atmosphere and immersing ourselves in the Italian way of life. I love how slow paced everything is in Italy...

We didn't wander for long before stopping for an obligatory 'gelato stop' though... when in Rome! The gelato is incredible, just no other ice cream even compares. The flavours are so incredible and intense! Oh what I'd do for one now...

And the selfies commenced! How lucky am I to have spent three whole years with this guy <3

We sat for ages outside Il Vittoriano, the huge, incredible white building in the photos below. Apparently the Italians can't stand the building as they think it's an eye-sore but I think it's pretty grand and impressive...

We wandered for hours until we reached The Pantheon, my favourite building in the whole of Rome. It was built as a temple dedicated to all the Gods and at 1889 years old it's one of the oldest buildings in the city. The age of the building just blows my mind. Isn't it incredible that it's still standing and has been so well preserved for all of these years?! It's still so majestic and it's design is fascinating in itself - it has the most amazing open circular roof. "What happens when it rains?" is everybody's first question. Simple, the rain is drained down through tiny holes drilled into the floor. Genius. It was difficult to get good quality photos inside because it's pretty dark, but if you go to Rome it's a must-see.

After some much needed drinks in a cafe overlooking The Pantheon we headed to Piazza Navona, one of Rome's most iconic piazzas which is home to some of the city's most famous fountains, street entertainers, cafes and restaurants. We sat and enjoyed a beautiful sunset over all of the gorgeous terracotta roofs whilst listening to live music. I'm pretty sure that life doesn't get much better than times like these.

We ended our first day in Rome with dinner at Da Francesco, a restaurant a couple of streets behind Piazza Navona. I found it in our guidebook {all hail Lonely Planet} and it was a total gem, I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone. It was very popular with locals and I can definitely see why. It's fairly small inside but really rustic with a loud, vibrant atmosphere and fantastically friendly waiters who went above and beyond to help us choose the perfect wine to accompany our meal. The food was incredible too, a carb feast <3

On our way back to the metro we passed Colosseo again, this time it was gloriously lit up...

The next morning we woke early and headed straight back to Colosseo to do a guided tour. You can book guided tours online but it's no big deal if you don't get round to doing so as there are countless tour-guides outside selling tickets. Try and get there as early as possible though because as you can imagine it gets absolutely packed with tourists. We managed to book ourselves on to a last minute tour costing around 25 euro each which included tickets and avoided all queues which was a real bonus. We were in a group of 12 with a lovely Italian guide called Pietro who showered us with history and facts about this incredible building. It took me straight back to Latin lessons at school!

It's such an impressive building, it's difficult to show the scale of it in photos but it is quite overwhelming when you're inside, looking around. 

  

Our ticket to The Colosseum included entry into The Roman Forum, or 'Ancient Rome'; a vast area in which lies the remnants of the original city. Nowadays it is essentially a large area of columns, old temples and ruins but there is nowhere quite like it and it's fascinating to walk around. It was easily 30 degrees but even so we wandered all the way up to the top of Palatine Hill to get the most astonishing views over the ruins.

On the way up to Palatine Hill there are beautiful gardens to walk through with orange tree orchards, olive trees and beautiful scented rose gardens.

What incredible views. Ahhh Roma we love you!

Does anyone else's holidays revolve around food and wine? Nope? Just us then...

Only in Rome would you find a Magnum store where you can create your own Magnums with melted chocolate and a variety of toppings...

<3 

 

  

The Trevi Fountain was one of my favourite sights in Rome on previous visits so I was disappointed to find that this time round it was mostly covered in scaffolding and closed to the public. Such a shame, but I guess these old buildings need restoring now and again.

The Spanish Steps still looked as impressive as ever, though, covered in gorgeous pink floral displays. We climbed right to the top and found a rooftop bar for another glass of vino...

 

We had a special celebratory anniversary dinner that evening at Ciampini Restorante, another total winner of a restaurant thanks to Lonely Planet. Located just along the road from the top of the Spanish Steps, Ciampini is a cafe/restaurant with a lovely garden terrace overlooking the rooftops of Rome. We enjoyed an amazing three course dinner under the stars with dessert wine and all...

Such a perfect first couple of days in one of the most romantic cities in the world.

 More photos coming up in part two!

Lydia xxx