A short trip to Rome

Italy – February 2018

Like many of my city breaks within Europe, travelling to Rome was a spark of the moment idea. I booked a flight and hotel just a few days before leaving wintery Switzerland. As always, I head to the airport straight after finishing my shift and a short flight later I arrive in Italy on this mild, late-winter evening. I buy a ticket to Roma Termini station and hop on the next train. There are only a few other passengers on the local train, and I watch the outskirts of the city pass by. I’ve been told before that Roma Termini station is not a place where you want to stay for too long. So once we arrive, I quickly make my way to the buses. Finding the right one heading to “Regola” turns out to be a little more difficult than anticipated, but after asking a few people, I finally make it. Exhausted, I check into my hotel and immediately go to bed.

The next morning I wake up early, get dressed and start my stroll through the city. I walk to the “Campo de Fiori” and then further north towards “Piazza Novana”. After taking too many pictures of the beautiful marble fountains, I leave the square following a tiny alleyway leading north east. My destination are the famous “Spanish Steps”. The area around the baroque stairs boasts stunning renaissance architecture, hip restaurants and shops. I do some people-watching and walk up the stairs. Eager to get a view of the city from above, I walk up the road leading to “Villa Borghese” park. Despite the relatively warm temperatures, it’s still winter and the park doesn’t reveal its full potential to me. So I walk down the hill and return to the beautiful streets of Campo Marzio. This time I stop at one of the restaurants for a delicious plate of Pasta.

Once I am done with lunch, I continue further south towards the famous Trevi Fountain. As I expected, there are tons of people taking pictures, eating ice cream and throwing coins into the water for good luck. I decide to take a break from sightseeing and do some shopping instead. With a new jean jacket and striped trousers in my shopping bag, I return to the main street and the busy roundabout at “Piazza Venezia”. I head back to my hotel to drop off the new clothes, and on the way casually walk by an archaeological site. In the middle of the city. This is Rome at its best. Later I cross the river “Tiber” and walk up the hill along a street lined with statues to the “Gianicolo” terrace. It’s known for its magnificent view and a great spot to see the sunset.

For my second and last full day in Rome I planned to visit Vatican City. I have bought the tickets for a guided tour online before and meet my group on the stairs across the street from the entrance to the museum. Once the group is complete, we walk past the long queue of visitors waiting to buy their tickets and enter the gate to another country. The Vatican is a city state ruled by the pope and the smallest state in the world by area and population. My tour includes a visit to the history and art museum as well as the Sixtine Chapel and ends at the St. Peter’s square. I would have loved to visit the gardens to escape the mass of tourists. However, you need to book another tour to do that. So instead I walked back to Italy and over one of the exquisite bridges across the Tiber.

My next stop after a pizza lunch is the Colosseo. Again, I pre-booked the tickets to Rome’s most famous landmark online, which I highly recommend you to do too at any time of the year.  I spent a good hour walking up and down the different levels where the Romans once sat, excitedly watching the spectacle taking place in the arena below. While waiting to enter the Colosseo, a queue of people on the other side of the street caught my eye. When I leave the Colosseo, I cross the street and realize that the people are queueing for “Foro Romano”. Joining them and visiting this archaeological site was one of those lucky coincidences which open a whole new world to you. Foro Romano has to be one of my favourite historical landmarks. I walk through the park, watch tourist groups and school kids, admire the incredible view and try to imagine Julius Cesar walking on the streets of the Forum.

After an exhausting day of sightseeing I take a break at the hotel and around sunset go for another walk across the Tiber. My destination for the night: “Trastevere”. This neighbourhood of tiny maze-like alleyways with restaurants and bars sure is a great place for a night out in Rome. I eat the delicious Spaghetti Carbonara and drink a Peroni or two. The next morning I catch the 9.40am flight to Zurich, as I have to be back in Lucerne for my late shift at the hotel.