Adventures in London: Issue 55

A (21 Feb 09): Rome August 7th? let me know what you think 22 Feb 09

T (22 Feb 09): I will look up flights

A (23 Feb 09): See if you can take 1 day off since I've heard that the Vatican itself is a one day tour

T (26 Feb 09): BOOKED!!! ROME HERE WE COME!

The length of time of booking our trip to actually taking it seemed like YEARS!! But I am happy to say that the Rome trip finally came!! Sad part is that it is finished.

Thursday night I met my cousin in Rome (have realised that I have opted to make all the romantic trips with my brothers - Rome with Aashin, Paris with Bhai...where to shall we go Zubin, Suneet & Sohin?)

Thursday was an early night since I landed around midnight and we had plans to wake up early Friday so we could make it Vatican City before the lines. I will say, we did not show up THAT early to the Vatican as we enjoyed our Italian breakfast on the rooftop of our restaurant. Thankfully, we still managed to bypass waiting for 3 hours in line :-) The Vatican is truly a phenomenal state. As we later learned on our bus tour - Vatican City, with a population of 900, came into existence in 1929. I could go into the other facts, but I won't spoil the bus tour facts in case you go :-)

There we elections taking place, so we were slightly limited to what we were able to see, but we did manage to see St Peters's Basilica and later went to the Vatican museum. I have to say, the museum is truly a beauty and I am happy that we waiting in the sun for 1 hour to see it. But the museum is definitely not a leisurely, go at your own pace museum. Rather, it is more like you are being herded little cattle from room to room until you find yourself in the Sistine Chapel - where despite the numerous signs saying no talking, there are plenty of whispers and SHHHHs to be heard all around. After our tour of the museum and nearly missing the famous staircase (which is exit staircase for anyone who has not been), it was off to lunch and some vino. Despite the notion that there was not such thing as bad food in Rome, we searched long and hard for the most disappointing pasta and wine that tasted like vinegar. YUCK! (I am happy to report that the food from there only went uphill with each meal)

After the Vatican, we took the day a little easy. The idea of walking around Rome in the blistering heat was not appealing so instead we opted to eat Gelatto and take a site-seeing bus tour for a couple of hours before returning to the hotel.

Post nap, and once the weather cooled down a bit, it was back to exploring the city. We made our way to the Trevi fountain. There is a legend that if you want to ensure that you return to Rome, you throw a coin in the fountain - needlesss to say we both did and even have the photos to prove it :-)

There is just something that was utterly peaceful about hanging out around the fountain. It was packed beyond belief with people (as was EVERY site that we went to), but there was just something about the fountain that was soothing. Around the corner from the fountain, we stopped at a little cafe for what we were had planned for more gelatto, but then ended up having antipasta and lattes! So very tasty! 

After spending some time at the Trevi, we walked over to the Spanish Steps. Before going to Rome, everyone said, "you have to go to the Spanish Steps". Maybe I missed something, but I did not see what the big deal was. The steps were packed with people and I really did not see the use of sitting on the steps. That said, if there was a gelatto stand nearby, I would have sat on the steps and enjoy my ice cream. Sadly, there was no ice cream stand and as such we climbed the steps and made our way to Piazza de Popolo and the Pincian Hill. From here we enjoyed some prosecco and watched the sunset over Rome.  I have to say, I think that was my favorite experience of the weekend :-)

...well that experience may be tied with the "bike ride" later that evening. While walking back to the hotel after a delicious meal in the Piazza, we saw the coolest thing. Granted we had just past by bikes for rent that we opted not to take, but when we saw the "bike" [shown on the left] and we could not resist. Similar to the Flintstone's vehicle, this bike-car was equipped with two sets of pedals, two steering wheels and a break. We took to the roads of Rome just like any other vehicle - which was probably not the smartest idea, but definitely the most unique method to tour Rome. If you are ever in Rome and come across this, please rent one. If I can suggest though, do not take the 2-seater! The bike-car is bloody hard work with two people and reckon it would be more enjoyable with 4 people driving.

The next day we headed over to the Coliseum and the Palatine Hill. We decided to take a tour thinking that this would bypass some of the lines....the only thing was we then had to wait for the the group to "fill their spots". Another tip for anyone thinking about going to Rome...avoid going in August. The smart people that my cousin and I are, we went to Rome when the temperature is at it's peak. The average temp while we were there was 29 degrees (85ish degrees).  Although the heat was a nice change from the London weather, there is only so much site seeing that your body can handle. Let's put it this way...I was too hot to take photos. After a bit, I just stopped. I just did not have the energy to snap another photo (not to mention that Xavier was starting to melt in the blistering sun). 

When we were finished with the tour, we headed towards the Trastevere neighborhood for the best pizza and gelatto ever! We walked around the cute, non-tourist neighborhood for a bit and then headed back into Rome where we took a nap during the rest of our bus tour through Ancient Rome and back to the hotel.

It had been a good 9 years since both of us played, but it seemed fitting. Over a bottle of procescco and cheese Aashin and I played rummy for hours. Playing rummy brought back quite a lot of memories from both of our childhoods... but I am not going to go into them. 

It was a great weekend and I am so very pleased and grateful to have had the weekend alone with my baby brother :-)

xoxo

T