I was happy to drop off the rental car at the airport and get back to relying on public transportation and Ubers, the day we got back to Rome. As much independence you can have while driving around, you can still feel stressed with trying to follow the new rules of the road in another country and another language. I like urban cities like NYC, Rome, Paris, etc. because of the transportation system they have in place. Some people don’t, and you can also rely on just Ubers and Taxis, which works just as well too! Would I rent a car again? Yes, because if I’m going to be traveling to places where public transportation is very minimal, I’ll need to get around more efficiently than the one bus that stops at a small town every 2 hours.
Since we decided to stay a few days in Rome, we reserved an Airbnb in the neighborhood that we love to see pictures of, Trastevere. We had access to a small Terrace and were close by to some touristic spots. Now, I won’t get tired of visiting Rome, there is always so much to see here. Last time I got to see the Medici gardens and learn about all the inventions that Leonardo Da Vinci made while he was alive. So, this time we figured we would also take advantage of getting some more food adventures. I took Sophia to a must visit spot, Roma Sparita. Anthony Bourdain visited this place once, and I came here during the summer. I had the same plate, Cacio e pepe. Hands down, one of the best cacio e pepe pastas I’ve had! Sophia agreed as soon as she tasted it. They even serve it to you in a bowl made of dried parmesan cheese!
The next day we took a half day to visit Naples on a speed train. We waited for about 2 hours to get a chance to enter La antica Pizzeria Da Michele. It’s the place where Julia Roberts had her infamous Margherita pizza in “Eat, Pray, Love.” Worth the wait because we each ordered our own pizza and devoured it. Truly, the best pizza in the world is in Naples.
We then explored a long busy Naples street. Tried some desserts, and discovered some “hidden” churches. We realized that there was a lot of Naples to explore and it was unfortunate that we didn’t have that much time to explore it all. Will be considered for our next Italian trip.
Later that night, after we got back to our Airbnb in Rome, we had a quick dinner and took an Uber to a Salsa Social! So, when I visited in the summer they had socials by the river in the city center. Since I followed the Roman social account on Instagram, they announced that they moved their location for the fall/winter. We drove about 20 minutes away from the city center and I was in full Salsa mode. It was so cool to see all these Italian salseros dancing to some great hits! I was asked to dance, and it was on1, but I was able to catch up! We also got to see Fernando Sosa (another professional Salsero) and his team perform! So happy I got to experience this with my best friend.
And the next day, we woke up to visit Galleria Colonna. While we did some research for this trip we came across some galleries that had a lot of artwork on display. The ones you can’t see in museums. What an incredible experience! People used to live amongst this beautiful artwork. It was a special treat to us.
After some exploring, one does get hungry. I found out that some people rave about the sandwiches made in Rome. So, we headed towards the city center and got on line to try some sandwiches with Prosciutto. Again, delicious! It also felt pretty good to try another type of food eaten in Italy, other than pizza and pasta.
A gelato later and we visited the Trevi Fountain…and its chaos. Obviously with the rise of social media platforms and people’s ability to travel on a budget, places like the Trevi Fountain tend to be swarmed by tourists. When I got my good pictures in the summer, I had to go at 7am. We got here about 2 in the afternoon. It’s alright, we squeezed through and got some nice pictures making wishes again and having our Lizzie McGuire moment. We also realized that it has been 5 years since we started traveling together! And 5 years ago, in 2017, we had also visited the Trevi Fountain and made wishes. It was a nice full circle moment. At least one of our wishes came true, we got to come back to Rome! Cheers to 5 years!
After a lot of walking, we took a break at the Circus Maximus. It was one of those places where Romans held chariot races, hence the long walk. We stayed there for most of sunset and rested our feet.
We then walked back to Osteria Fortunata, another recommended place by me. You can see them making the pasta from outside their window, and they serve one of the best Carbonata pastas I’ve had! Sophia agreed.
Sophia flew out the next day back to the states, and I stayed back to enjoy some more Roman days. I moved out of the Airbnb and into a hostel I had my eye on for a while, The Yellow Hostel. I heard good reviews for this place. After I settled into my bunk bed, I took a tour to the outskirts of Rome and visited the Tivoli Gardens! For those that don’t know, this place was in a scene of the Lizzie McGuire movie, where Paolo took Lizzie to see the gardens. I wondered if this place actually existed, and it does! So I booked a ticket to see them! I learned more about bath houses back in the day, got to see some villas and also saw how beautiful the gardens were.
A ride back to Rome and a gelato later, I rested at my hostel and then went out to have dinner at another place I found with a good review, Felice e Testaccio. I had visited this place on a hot summer day in my last trip, I liked it so much I had to visit again. Another delicious dinner!
I got back to my hostel and decided to go to the hostel bar with my roommates who later became friends! Agos y Paz are from Argentina and they truly made my stay at this hostel a great one! On my last full day in Rome, I set out to visit the Borghese Gallery. Sophia and I had tried to visit while she was in Rome, but we didn’t realize you needed a reservation, so I got to make one before I left. Another really cool gallery filled with incredible artwork. I was sad I couldn’t make it to the room filled with artwork by Carvaggio, because it was being fixed. It’s ok though, this makes it another reason to visit Rome again.
Another delicious prosciutto sandwich later, a visit to the Trevi Aqueducts and walk throughout the streets of Roma and I was done. I squeezed in another delicious cacio e pepe with Agos and another night out at the hostel bar, dancing. I couldn’t ask for a more perfect ending to this trip.
Rome and all of Italy, truly have a piece of my heart. The ruins, architecture, art, food, fashion…everything is just so incredible. I always think about how lucky and funny that I fell in love with Italy. When I first started to travel I thought that France would be the place I fell in love with, but I think the food in Italy is what got me hooked. And with that, stay tuned for the next post. Who knows…maybe it’ll be local!
Saluti!
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