We spent a few amazing days in Naples and along the Amalfi Coast, but it was now time for our final destination in Europe: Rome! Neither of us had been to Rome before, so we were so excited both to experience what it has to offer and we were honestly also excited to be almost out of Europe. After an absolute whirlwind of a summer, we were both completely exhausted and ready for a couple chill months in Canada and the US.
Our bus ride from Naples to Rome further cemented our excitement to get out of Europe: it was loud, stinky, and bumpy. After 3 hours of listening to people having loud conversations on speaker phone and playing videos without headphones, we finally arrived in Rome!
We checked into Hotel Virginia and decided to explore the local cuisine. We found a local restaurant, La Familia and enjoyed some delicious pasta and pizza, before just relaxing the rest of the evening — travel days really take it out of us!
The next day, we set out to explore! We found we really liked the feeling of Rome. The city was full of life and history, making every corner we turned a new opportunity to discover something special.
As we meandered through the streets we stumbled upon several ruins, captivating statues, and incredible historical buildings, just casually sitting there, as ancient as could be!
The ruins and statues led us to our ultimate destination, the Colosseum. As we arrived at this famous site, we couldn’t help but be amazed by its grandeur. The word that kept coming to mind was: colossal. Hahaha. We took plenty of photos, with Wini managing to capture some shots that made it seem as if we were the only ones there (we most definitely weren’t).
We continued our exploration, eventually finding ourselves at the Pantheon, and in several cool leather shops.
Our journey led us through a charming square to a shop specializing in oils and truffle butters. The salesman, Ahmed, offered us generous samples of flavoured olive oils and introduced us to the incredible world of balsamic vinegars, letting us try a 20-year aged one, and one infused with pomegranate! We couldn’t resist purchasing some bottles as gifts. That’s how they get you: the stuff they’re selling is actually that good.
We returned to our hotel as the weather began to take a turn. Wini went out to get dinner from a nearby restaurant and brought it back to our hotel room to enjoy while listening to the rain and thunder. The perfect way to unwind after a full day of exploration!
On our third day in Rome, we decided to take it slow and enjoy the morning at our hotel, not leaving until we were ready to find lunch at a nearby market-place pizzeria.
As we left the pizzeria, we noticed the sky looking ominous. We made a quick trip back to our hotel to grab sweaters and an umbrella for another day of exploring.
Our goal was to visit Vatican City, the tiny independent city-state located within the city of Rome. It is the smallest independent state in the world, both in terms of area (110 acres) and population (a few hundred people).
It took around an hour to walk there from our place. When we arrived, we were struck by its small size and huge number of visitors. An enormous line of people snaked around the perimeter, waiting to enter the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. We decided just to explore the public outdoor areas (and not give our money to the Catholic Church lol), appreciating the intricate statues and the festive costumes on the guards.
Looking at the big dark clouds forming in the sky, we decided to begin our journey back towards our hotel. As we began our walk it started to sprinkle on us (luckily we had gone back for our umbrella earlier).
We realized on the way, we would be passing by the famous Trevi Fountain, a must-see attraction in Rome. We had wanted to capture the beauty of the fountain without the crowds, so we planned to visit it early the next morning, but we thought we might as well stop by now as well. As we approached the Trevi Fountain, the rain intensified, turning into a full-blown downpour.
Since we were already resigned to being soaked, we pushed on, and as we got closer we realized the heavy rain had scared away the crowd! We had the stunning fountain nearly to ourselves, and the rain eased off right as we approached. Immediately, we seized the opportunity to take photos without anyone around. After a few minutes of having the entire place to ourselves, the crowds returned! We had timed it perfectly, and we carried on towards our hotel, feeling invigorated by our good fortune at the Trevi Fountain.
For our last full day in Rome, we decided to pamper ourselves with a relaxing massage. In the last few days we had walked over 20,000 steps a day and our legs and backs were feeling it! The massage was incredible. The therapists targeted our specific areas of tension, and left us feeling so zenned out.
After the massage, we walked to a pasta-making class that Wini booked for our last night in Rome! Hassan, our chef and guide, welcomed us and introduced the class. We started by making tiramisu, a delicious dessert with just a few ingredients, and then we put them in the fridge to set while we made the pasta.
The pasta-making lesson was a bit more technical and hands-on. We learned the art of rolling the pasta dough to the right consistency and shape, cutting them into fettuccine style pasta.
For the main course, we had the chance to choose our sauce. Wini picked amitriciana (tomato sauce and bacon), and I went for caccio e pepe (cheese and pepper). The pasta was incredibly delicious, and we enjoyed our meal came with a glass of wine. Our tiramisu turned out so well, and we finished everything off with a little shot of limoncello — a staple of Italy!
We left the class with new culinary skills and the recipes of what we just made, so we will be able to replicate them back home. We also met a sweet Canadian couple, Michael and Maggie, during the class, and we shared travel stories and experiences over our meal.
After our final Roman adventure, we returned to the hotel, ready to unwind and prepare for our trip back to North America.
The next morning, we took the train to the airport and had THE smoothest security and immigration process ever (you don’t have to remove laptops, liquids, or anything from your bags. You just scan your passport for immigration). Go Rome!
It has been such a wonderful time in Europe this summer, but we also learned a lot about what we like in terms of pacing. During our Asia leg of our trip, we were mostly staying at places for 4-5 nights at a time, and when we got to Europe we went down to 1-3 nights. We wanted to see and get the most out of our time in Europe, but travelling that quickly kind of turned our brains to mush. We were constantly looking out the window like… Where am I? What country is this?? Where am I going right now???
So we were seriously ready for some rest & relaxation in our next destination: Vancouver Island, Canada!!!
