Anderspluscindy

Prologue

The pandemic was slowly fading away from our world in 2022, and we’ve really missed travelling. Not every country allowed tourists freely just yet, and from the list, Italy caught our eyes. We started doing our research about Northern Italy initially, but November wouldn’t have been a good time for the Dolomites. Hence, we decided to head to Rome, Florence and Tuscany. Admittedly, it wasn’t one on the bucket list, but after the trip, Italy instantly became our favourite destination of all-time.

We didn’t know much, but we knew Rome and Florence was rich in history and culture. Some might even argue that these are two of the most significant places in modern history. We started reading and learning, particularly about the Renaissance, the art, and the importance of the Medici family in all of these. These ended up making our trip a really fulfilling and impactful one, and we highly recommend everyone who’s heading to Italy (especially Florence) to do so too.

As this blog set out to be a diary for ourselves, we’ll be sharing what we did each day on our 13-day trip.

Arrival

The 13-hour flight took a lot out of us, so we were so glad to find out that there’s a coffee stand right at the baggage claim. Helped ourselves to some coffee before our car ride to the Eternal City.

We stayed at UNAHOTELS Trastevere Roma. It’s situated in Trastevere, a beautiful neighbourhood across the Tiber River. Perhaps not right next to all the main attractions in Rome, but the city is very walkable, so the distance was very much worth the peace in exchange. Rick Steves said in one of his video: “Rome is brutal”. It really can be, so a quiet hotel to return to at the end of the day was very much appreciated. We fell in love with this neighbourhood in the next few days/nights. We arrived hours before our check-in time, so we headed to the nearby Piazza di Santa Maria.

We took photos, walked around, sat down, and just immersed ourselves in the Italian air. And then, we got hungry. We knew where to go, and it was Bar San Calisto without any question. It was recommended by the locals, nothing fancy and nothing touristy about it. It was a place where locals would go for a quick breakfast and coffee. We spent many mornings here in the following days trying to blend in. Oh, and in the evening, this place turns into a bustling bar.

By this time, we had an hour left before we could check in, and we decided to take a short walk over to Porta Portese after finding out that there’s a flea market going on there. Perhaps we were still tired from the long flight across the globe, we were not ready at all to face the massive crowd at the market. About 3 minutes in, we decided to leave. It wasn’t really our thing, as we quickly learnt that it’s mostly selling knock-offs. The walk towards the market was good though, as we passed some lovely corners and met some friendly locals.

Piazza Navona & Pantheon (kinda)

After finally freshening up with a nice shower at the hotel, it was time to venture into the city centre. We weren’t planning to do much as it was our first day, so we decided to cross the River Tiber and check out Piazza Navona, also to feel how far everything is really. Venturing towards the centre, we started to feel the excitement and the magic of Rome as things started coming into sight. From the Ponte Sisto bridge, we could even see the tip of St Peter’s Basilica already (but that’s for another day!).

We headed towards Largo di Torre Argentina to check it out. We were surprised that the large area of ruins was just lying there, right smack between pasta shops and bus stops. These were the ruins of 4 temples, but most importantly within the complex, is where Julius Caesar was stabbed to death. Perhaps this destination means even more in the modern times to some, as there is now a colony of cats living here!

The attractions are all pretty close to each other once you are in the city centre of Rome. Our jet-lagged bodies were starting to tell us to go to bed by now, so we decided to just walk by the Pantheon to Piazza Novana before ending our day. We would eventually enter the Pantheon on our final day in Rome, but that’s for another post!

We dragged ourselves to Piazza Navona but by this time, the crowds felt overwhelming to our sleep deprived heads. Our eyes saw the beauty of the Piazza, but the rest of our senses were telling us otherwise. We decided to head back to our hotel after having a quick look and have a good rest before the adventure really begins the next day!

UNAHOTELS Trastevere Roma

This was our hotel of choice for our 4 nights in Rome. Back when we booked it, the hotel hasn’t officially opened yet, but we decided to take a gamble since UNAHOTELS is a reputable chain in Italy. And it really paid off! The room was modern, clean, comfortable and quiet. We couldn’t hear the streets at all despite being near some eateries. Highly recommended if you’d like to stay in this area.

That’s our first day in Italy (and it keeps getting better)! Stay tuned for our post on Day 2, where we headed to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. You can view all our Italy blog posts here.

Thanks for reading, we hope you enjoyed it!

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