Sunday 17 April 2011

Roman Holiday - picture post!

When I wrote about my recent trip to Rome, I promised to post some pictures on my return, and here they are, a little later than planned, but, better late than never, right?

At the Trevi Fountain
I feel lucky to live in Europe - all it takes is a short plane journey, and I can visit some of the most amazing cities in the world.  What's extra good for me is that these cities are very old, and steeped in history, and I love that! Our trip to Rome included visiting a lot of places of historical significance.  We took in The Colosseum, The Roman Forum and Palatine Hill on our first day of sightseeing.  The very first place we visited was The Trevi Fountain, which I thought was oh, so pretty, but the crowds there were too much. Insane! The Spanish Steps were even more crowded. Rome is probably one of the busiest cities I've been to!

We revisited The Trevi Fountain a couple times (we were staying near there) and the best time to go was definitely late at night because that's the only time when the Trevi Fountain is relatively quiet. Good thing that I love to take late night walks around cities! 

I had a great time on this trip. The weather was perfect, as was our holiday apartment.  The food was delicious, and so was the wine!

Here are some pictures!


The Colosseum by night
If you ever do go to Rome, and plan on visiting The Colosseum, buy a Rome Pass which will enable you to skip the queues for The Colosseum. The queues were insane - up to an hour long wait.  Thankfully, though I am supremely disorganised, I am a whizz with google, and I had figured that I should buy the pass. No queuing here!  The Colosseum isn't open at night, by the way, I visited during the day. I just wanted to get some night shots!

You know what else was insane? The Spanish Steps! I've never known such popular  set of steps. Look, see what I mean?! Crazy crowds!

Crazy crowds at the Spanish Steps

Rome is a busy, crowded city - it's a lot smaller than I thought it would be too.  We stayed very centrally, and were able to walk everywhere.  If you've tired of crowds, and want some peace and tranquility a good place to go is the Villa Borghese park, which is the largest public park in Rome. It's also just a short walk from those Spanish Steps (there is a hill, though!) Featuring lakes, temples and fountains, it's very pretty, and the perfect place for a chilled out picnic!


Aesculapius Temple at Villa Borghese


Our Sunday in Rome consisted of going to the Vatican City and the Castel Sant'Angelo - the views from the roof are Wow!  The Vatican city is also very impressive.  The following sculpture was one of my favourites - it caught my eye right when I walked into St. Peter's Basilica...


Angels in Saint Peter's Basilica

Of course, when in Rome, you have to sample the gelato, right. Before I went to Rome, all anybody talked about was the gelato...and it is good! My favourite was probably the lemon flavour. I sampled 5 or six different flavours. I definitely ate too much on this trip (I am a pasta fiend!), but I walked a lot too, so I figure that's OK! 


Sunday concluded with a trip to Castel Sant'Angelo, which has great views of the city. If you're going to visit, go right to the top for the views over the city!


At Castel Sant'Angelo


On this trip we also visited The Pantheon, Piazza Navona and the Torre Argentina cat sanctuary, the volunteers at which are doing some wonderful work on behalf of the stray cats of Rome.

We didn't fit in the day trip to Florence since our days were pretty full as it was and we just didn't have the time.  I'll have to save that for another trip!

Hope you enjoyed looking through my Rome pictures.  They're pretty small on the blog, but if you click them, they magically get bigger! :)

12 comments :

  1. Oh these pics are so gorgeous. You simply have me planning my own little trip to Rome now. It's definitely one of my top countries, besides Ireland and Scotland that I'd love to visit - simmply because it's steep in such mythological history. And the colosseum at night? Wow, talk about spectacular. Sounds like you had such a wonderful time - thanks for sharing your experiences with us and for the gorgeous pics too :)

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  2. Looking at your pictures and reading about your stay has brought back loads of memories from our stop over in Rome in 2005! We had decided to explore on our own in the morning and had booked a tour of the Vatican City in the afternoon - the Spanish Steps weren't that busy when we were there but the Trevi Fountain was manic. We had been advised about 'pickpockets' before we left the ship (cruise) but had no problems.

    It was an amazing feeling being there - the history seeping into our blood! The irony was our much younger boys then wanting to eat MacDonalds - which was right opposite the Pantheon. A mix of old and new!

    Sounds like you enjoyed your stay!

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  3. Beautiful photots, Leanna! They brang back memories from when I went last year. I know what you mean about the crowds- you're lucky to get such a clear photo at the Trevi fountain. I was staying out of the centre of Rome with some of my mum's friends so unfortunately I couldn't see some of the sights at night but your photo of the Colesseum at night is phenomenally pretty. I went to Villa Borgehese too and I agree about it being a lovely place to take a break from the crowded inner city. I have almost the exact same photo! Reading about lemon gelato has made me hungry- it was definitely my favourite flavour too and I ate way too much of it. There needs to be an Italian ine cream shop in the UK!I'm glad you enjoyed your trip :D

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  4. Wow! It's so pretty. Your pictures make me want to travel to Rome!

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  5. Great pictures! Rome is beautiful. I enjoyed the Colosseum too. It was crazy busy though :)

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  6. Wow! Amazing pictures, Leanna! It makes me want to visit Rome!

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  7. oh ~ these are awesome. thanks so much for sharing even though it has made me all ache-y for travel... Australia is such a long way away from everywhere.

    looks like you had an amazing time.

    xx nomes

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  8. One of these years I will get to go overseas! Myself and the hubby both want to go, but I want to wait until the kiddos are a bit older! Great pictures! :) Thanks for sharing!

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  9. So pretty! Looks like you had a wonderful trip. Thanks for sharing your pics.

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  10. It sounds like you had a wonderful trip! Thank you for sharing some tips and photos with us. :)

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  11. I love your photos! I have some of the same shots- it's pretty funny! I also said some of the same things as you about our trip, like the Borghese park- loved it there and we also didn't do the side trip to Florence like we initially wanted to do, because we were so busy in Rome! I loved the gelato too. I think chocolate, strawberry and lemon were my favorite. I felt so bad about eating pizza, pasta and gelato everyday, but we did so much walking, I think it balanced it out. I LOVE pasta too- it's my downfall. Thanks for the tip about Castel Sant'Angelo. I got some good shots from up there. I think I have one of me in almost the same spot as you! Too bad we missed each other by a week....we could have grabbed a pint at Scholars Lounge. :) ha. Anyway, great pictures, Leanna! I'm glad you loved Rome as much as me!

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  12. When I have been to Europe, I enjoyed a lot in Italy, Rome besides of Italian foods and culture it offers a very amusing history. I was very much fascinated towards its history; it was very powerful and greatest city in history. Their sights such as Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and Spanish Steps represent how Rome once was.
    Travel to Europe

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