Another Era....Rome...the eternal city. Review on Rome

What a historical city - buildings from so many ancient/previous eras. Its very different from the organized and neat Paris but in its own league totally.

Some of the Italian women we saw are beautiful, so chic and elegant, inspite of the heat and the Italian men...I dont want to spoil the beautiful memories with their crazy behaviour....finally some competition to the Delhi heroes.

We missed the Sistine to my great sadness but the rest of Rome was too good to be true, most of all San Pietro in the Vatican.

Early one morning we took the metro to Spagna to see the Spanish Steps, when you get out of the metro it seems like a small square and then you turn to your right and see the Steps properly with a beautiful fountain in front. We climbed the Steps which had so many people sitting and doing nothing even at 8:30am, to the church above it. From there we got a great view of Rome, not too high up but nice to see.

We walked down the Via Condotti from the Spanish Steps and then some more, to the Fontana di Trevi. On the way, which was not more than 15 mins, we passed small piazzas and beautiful churches. The Fountain is beautiful and I loved it, there were hordes of people there though. We threw a coin each to return and many pictures and then walked to the Pantheon which is awesome. From there we walked to the Piazza Navona which has three incredible fountains/statues and cafes around it, its really as pretty as its talked about.

When you go to the Colosseo, do take the metro, as you get out of the station the immense building looms up and its a shock.

The Roman Forum and Palatine is very close and worth looking at for the so ancient buildings.

From there Piazza Venezia is 5 minutes walk and truly like a wedding cake!

On the Via Giolitti side of the Termini as you get out next to the McDonalds there is this place which offers three course really filling meals for only 8 or 9 euros per person, with a sweet old lady at the counter. There is no service charge which seemed to be 3 euros at all

Eating in Rome

In the Termini, on the basement level where the Metro is, there is a Conad supermarket if you want to eat very cheap readymade food, we bought some good wine from there and a 1.5 litre of lime drink for only 50 cents! Thats cheaper than in India!

Near our hotel there is a place which seemed so Italian, a lovely ristofer/trattoria with great ambience but very high prices and horrible food, I liked the lasagna in Bombay much more, what a disapointment, and on our first night in Rome. At least our other meals were great.

Nightlife

for nightlife and meeting people, the main and only area was Campo De Fiori, each night, everyone in our hotel seemed to be going there and inviting everyone who wasnt.

Please be careful of gypsy women with really tiny babies on Bus 64 who are big time pros at pickpocketing. We almost got ripped off by a women with a 2-3 month old baby who was crushed in the crowd.

Accomodation

We stayed at Hotel Virginia, very close to the Termini on the Via Marsala side, it was approximately 50 Euros for two people per night. For the same price there is a building full of pensiones on the Giolitti side of the Termini, like Alberto Rossi, Sunshine B&B etc. Virginia also has a hostel for 18 Euros per person per night which we tried for one night, it wasnt bad at all and we met some sweet people.

Trastevere didnt live up to our expectations, its like most of Rome, maybe because we went on a Sunday, looking for Via del Moro and a friend's insistent recommendation on eating at Mario's, which unfortunately shut down.

However, the best ice cream we had in Rome was in a small shop while walking to the church - I think Santa Maria.....I had Frutti Di Bosco which was divine and delicious, Via del Moro also has a tiny shops selling homemade chocolate which everyone must buy even though its a little expensive.

Diagonally opposite the chocolate shop there is a small cafe with only 2 benches which has the best pizza and calzone we ate during our stay

There are many beautiful water fountains all over Rome, and also small taps, the water coming out is absolutely drinkable....its very cold and refreshing in the heat - supposed to be installed by a Pope.

Amazing place to go to and a must see for everyone in their lifetime.