Eat, Play, Love: Roman Holiday

They say a lifetime's not enough for the Eternal City: Roma, non basta una vita! After an action-packed two day-three night tour in the Eternal City—a layover en route to Sicily—I am apt to agree.

With so many must-see sights and world-class monuments, galleries and museums in Rome, it was difficult to decide which to see in such a short amount of time. Rosanna, having visited the city countless times, was a top-notch tour guide, and helped me get my bearings on our first evening in Ancient Rome. After settling in at our campsite on the outskirts of town, we took a bus in to the city centre. First up? The Piazza del Campidoglio. Designed by Michelangelo in 1538 (is there nothing this guy didn’t design, engineer, sculpt, paint, write, etc.?), this elegant piazza is the centrepiece of Capitoline Hill, one of the seven hills on which Rome was founded, and currently the seat of Rome’s municipal government. It also commands the city's best view of the Roman Forum.

Piazza del Campidoglio

Roman Forum

Afterwards, we walked along the Via dei Fori Imperiali to the Colosseum, the world’s largest amphitheatre and one of Rome’s most iconic sights. Here, gladiators spent hundreds of years entertaining the public by engaging in mortal combat—the original NHL enforcers.

Colosseum

We spent the evening in the Trastevere quarter, a charming medieval neighbourhood just beyond the Tiber River, whose cobbled lanes are lined with pizzerias, trattorias and bars. After a delicious dinner at Ai Bozzi, we strolled along the banks of the river, bursting with hundreds of outdoor venues including bars and restaurants, theatres, cinemas, arcades and artisans, before heading back to our campsite.

Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere

Trastevere

Tiber River

The following day, Rosanna and co. took me on a walking tour to the north of the centro storico. We hit up the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, which were both somewhat difficult to navigate and appreciate with the hordes, and made our way north along the Via del Corso to the Piazza del Popolo, a vast neoclassical piazza where public executions were once held (nowadays, people just gather to hang out). There, Gabriele, Guido and Niccolo rented segways, while Rosanna and I checked out Borsalino, the prestigious Italian hat boutique favoured by the likes of Al Capone and Humphrey Bogart.

That evening, I headed back to Trastevere to meet up with Claire, one of Maya’s closest friends from Vancouver, who is now living in Rome with her Italian hubby. Over dinner at Grazia & Graziella, we bonded instantly (endorsing the Italian lifestyle, commiserating on its red tape), and strategized on how to get Maya over the Atlantic to join us in expat living.

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

Piazza del Popolo

On my third and last day in Rome, I decided to fly solo. I made a beeline for the Vatican, where, after a two-hour wait in the sweltering August sun, I marvelled at the Vatican Museum’s Sistine Chapel (Michelangelo, again) and St Peter’s Basilica (and again!).

Vatican Museums

Piazza San Pietro

St Peter's Basilica

Interior, St Peter's Basilica

Michelangelo's Dome, St Peter's Basilica

After refueling with a great gelato at Old Bridge, I strolled along the animated streets of the centro storico, coming across some of the city’s best-known sights without even really trying. I started off in the Largo di Torre Argentina, a busy square set around the ruins of Republic-era temples and the site of Julius Caesar’s assassination (and now a cat sanctuary—gross). I walked past Bernini’s Elefantino sculpture and the Chiesa di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Rome’s only Gothic church, before arriving at the Pantheon. Along with the Colosseum, the Pantheon is one of Rome’s most iconic monuments, and the city's best preserved. Almost 2,000 years after it was built, the Pantheon’s dome is still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome, and it is mighty impressive.

Largo di Torre Argentina

Bernini's Elefantino

Pantheon

Dome, Pantheon

For my second gelato of the day (when in Rome…), I headed over to nearby Gelataria Giolitti, where Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck grabbed cones in Roman Holiday. Following this divine delicacy, I treated myself to an espresso from Caffe Sant’Eustachio, considered by many to be the capital’s best.

Pistacchio and Stracciatella Gelato from Gelataria Giolitti

After wandering around in the Piazza Navona and the Campo de’ Fiori, I headed back to Trastevere and up to Gianicolo for sunset, which offered an incredible view of Rome.

It was a whirlwind of a trip, but I’ll be back. I did throw a coin in the Trevi Fountain, after all.