Our last stop in Italy was Rome. Upon arriving, Rome felt strangely familiar. I think it reminds me a bit of LA, New York, and even Hong Kong. But thematically very European/Old Port Montreal. 

Rome was also one of the most annoying in terms of having to book tickets early to everything. But scalpers and bots were also buying up all the official tickets once they’re released to the public?! It was a feat trying to get all the tickets we wanted and making those designated time slots fit into our schedule. So we ended up with wonky itineraries where we’d go to Vatican City two days in a row for different stuff. 

We took a train from the airport to our lodging in Rome. I had chosen a funny little place called Dream Station. They had a nice vibe to them and also had a shared kitchenette. It felt kind of cosy and cute! But most importantly, it was located literally across from Termini Station. 

We dropped off our luggage and changed out of our travel clothes to head to our Vatican Museum visit. We got tickets for a guided tour (because scalpers had already bought all the regular tickets), which was actually very helpful because the museum would’ve been very overwhelming otherwise. 

The museum visit usually would’ve included access to the Sistine Chapel, but because of Pope Francis’ death, they had to shut down the chapel to the public as they prepared for the conclave to happen. My knowledge of the conclave is limited to the movie The Conclave, which was a very good movie, entertainment-wise. Our guide did mention that it’s actually a really special time to be able to visit the Vatican during the conclave. Oh and we’re here during the 2025 jubilee too! The jubilee is held every 25 years and pilgrims would travel to Rome for prayer, reflection, and penance. Overall, just a very special time to be here if you’re religious. 

At the Vatican Museum, at one point we entered a room and I turned to look at the wall behind us and gasped. I frantically motioned for Seb to take a picture because it was The School of Athens!! I’ve only ever seen this in my old history textbooks and for some reason, it’s always been a piece I’ve always held on to. It was so cool to see in person and I didn’t even know it was at the Vatican. A lovely surprise! 

When our tour ended, we bought some postcards from the museum to write back at our hotel. We then walked about 20 minutes away to a restaurant called La Fraschetta Romanesca. I had maltagliati pasta for the first time! It’s kind of like if pasta was in irregular sheets torn up? It was quite good hot. We also ordered a pizza to share. Then we were so hungry, we ordered a penne with salmon that the table behind us kept raving about. It was good, but maybe the table behind us overhyped it haha. 

We were really full from that last pasta dish, but we still made room to share a gelato at Oggi nearby. I quite liked their chocolate gelato! 

We headed back to our lodging and walked around that neighbourhood a bit. We were told the area around Termini Station can be a bit sketchy, but there was a strip that felt pretty safe. It was quite busy at night with lots of people seated outdoors in nice restaurants. We called it a night after since we had to wake up early the next day to once again trek out to Vatican City. 

We took the metro to the Vatican on day 2, so we got to also pass by a special McDonald’s at Termini Station. They have slabs of ancient Servian wall that was found during construction and now stands on display. It’s 2,500 years old! We ate a quick breakfast of a McToast (it was just ham and white cheese in pressed circular slices of toast), and a bacon McMuffin. Oh and you can order a lil block of parmigiano reggiano as a snack at McDonald’s in Italy so I ordered one. I saw they also sell tiramisu and other treats here too.

For our trip out to the Vatican, this time we were here for Saint Peter’s Basilica. I loved this visit to the basilica. Firstly, we got to walk through the holy gates that only open once every 25 years during the jubilee. That felt special and I watched as people ahead of me touched the ornate doors as they walked past. 

The inside was gorgeous. The tall ceilings that went on forever. The ornate decor. The grand scale of all the paintings, murals, and sculptures. It made me feel really small and in awe. I loved the golden angels guarding the four corners of the middle baldachin. 

At the gift shop, we bought our postcard stamps and mailed out 17 cards to our friends and family! The Vatican City has its own postal system so it’s neat to receive a card. Or at least I think so and I hope our recipients think so too! 

All of this Vatican City stuff made me nostalgic and sad for Pope Francis. I’m not religious. I learned more about him posthumously rather than when he was alive, but he seemed to have done a lot of progressive good. I hope the next pope ends up steering the world in the right direction too. 

We said goodbye to the Vatican, and I sent general hopes out to the world that maybe we’ll get to visit again and actually see the Sistine Chapel. But we had another ticket we had to be prompt for: the Pantheon. Our reservation was for 10AM. 

The Pantheon was small in terms of what you could see and visit, but it was pretty cool. We actually took a seat on some of the pews and from the middle of that room, I Googled fun facts and it was neat to look over at various areas and see the example in real life. Glad this was a pretty chill experience! 

Oh yeah, there was also a tribute book signing for the prior emperors?? And I signed it for S and I. And S was like “but why?” I have no idea what it was for but they posted guards next to the book and there was a lineup. I fear I am a sheep. 

When we left the Pantheon, right outside was a meats and cheese store we took a quick detour to before our ticketed time for the temple visit. The old men inside were all very nice and they have samples laid out. I really wanted to try a variety of their offerings so we went back and sat down for a platter. 

It’s kinda pricey at €20 per person, but the amount of meats and cheeses were disgusting (in a good way). Most of the selection was very tasty and I really liked the porchetta slices, the parmigiano reggiano, and one of the smoked cheeses. Then there were 2 items I really hated. There was this deep red mushed meat/chili flakes thing that absolutely coated your entire tongue, mouth, and places where it touched your teeth. And then it was hard to get that feeling out. I’ve never felt so claustrophobic in my mouth before. Then there was a cheese that I can only describe as durian but in cheese form. I’ve had stinky cheeses before, but this one was different. I made the man there (who spoke no English) give me the name of the cheese by typing on my phone because I never wanted to have it again. Turns out it’s called puzzone. 

S and I got SO full from the platter. It also wasn’t a good idea to have this at like 11AM with a full day’s itinerary still ahead of us. We’re also lactose intolerant. Please don’t question why I thought this was a good idea (ok, I still stand by the idea. I really wanted a platter and for the most part, it was yummy!). 

After the heavy lunch, we headed over to our next timed booking. The Colosseum! I was really excited for this but the heat and the amount of cheese in me made me die a bit inside as we walked there under the hot sun and during the experience itself. While inside, at one point, I wished aloud that someone would sell me a bottle of cold Coke. I’d pay like €6 for one at that moment.  But we still did enjoy seeing the old, crumbling structure and looking down into the oval stadium, and imagined what it must have been like to be a part of the crowd. 

We wrapped up the Colosseum, and then headed to a cafe just for some respite from the heat. It was nearby and aptly named Cafe Cafe. I got an orange-carrot-lemon juice — it’s a really popular mix here and I kind of got hooked on it when they served it on the plane on our way to Florence.  S had a coffee, and then we shared our first tiramisu in Italy. It wasn’t bad! But I’ve also had better. 

S was so thirsty that after the cafe he went across the street and bought 1.5L of San Pellegrino to try to quench his thirst. The salted meats and the hot sun was really catching up to us. 

With that we decided to head back to Dream Station for a rest. But we also happened by a nail salon and I got my nails redid since the last time they were done was for our wedding and it had been a while. It was a Chinese-operated nail salon and it was a very neat experience when I didn’t speak enough Mandarin, and they didn’t really speak English. They were fluent in Italian though! It was very cool. 

We continued walking toward our home but passed by Regoli: a classic pastry shop in Rome. We had wanted to go the next morning, but decided we’d drop in to take a look. It’s a good thing we did because we learned they sell out of most things by the afternoon. Especially their famous maritozzo: a cream filled pastry! We still got a strawberry tart and a cream puff (the bigne con crema chantilly) as a snack. They were both 10/10s and I couldn’t wait to come back the next day for their signature items. 

After resting up at Dream Station, dinner was at a place called al42 by Pasta Chef Rione Monti. There was a lineup and it’s first come first served — no reservations. S stood in line and I wandered off because I got bored. I made it 1.5 blocks toward a quieter part of town before I found a marketplace that had closed but I took a peek inside. It was empty so I left, and that’s when I ran into a group of like 10 men all wearing matching shirts. 

A van was driving by the incredibly small alleyway so I got stuck with all of them right outside this closed marketplace. Then one of them noticed me and asked me something. I said “pardon?” And he said in Italian “you don’t speak Italian?” And I said “no, sorry!” So he switched to English. He asked me if I worked at the marketplace and I said no. Then he laughed and I laughed and he said “my mistake”. 

It seems like they were all waiting for a van to pick them up, and one of the vans finally came. Their group was too big to all fit in one so half of them (including the guy who talked to me) went into this first one.  I squeezed by to try to leave, to head back where there were more people towards the restaurant’s district. That’s when the guy who talked to me was like “want to join us? Come in! Let’s have fun!” And I had to strategically speed walk towards the side of the van that didn’t have its door open and shouted “no thanks! But y’all have fun!!!” and left. I told S about it right after and he told me I’m not allowed to wander off anymore after almost getting kidnapped 🤣

I thought it wasn’t that serious and I told him I think they worked on the set of Gladiator 2 or something because they all had matching shirts with the gladiator guy on them. I realize a few of the guys were still there waiting 1.5 blocks down so I took S’s spot in line and told him to go see if I was right. He went and then came back shaking his head. He translated their t-shirt and it read “bachelor party”. Whoops. 

Anyway, back to pasta. al42 was such a nice experience! There was a host that greeted you when you got close to the front of the line. He asked us where we were from and we told him Canada, so that’s what he started referring to us as. He explained the ordering system here: because they weren’t a proper restaurant, we would have to order our food from the counter and pick it up when they called our number. It operated like a food stall, and they couldn’t do table service. I didn’t really mind and the food itself was amazing. The host told us: for the carbonara, we should forget all prior instances of carbonara. Carbonara not from Rome isn’t carbonara. He said it’s supposed to be much saltier. I love carbonara so we ordered that and I felt it wasn’t exactly salty, but it was a very deep and rich umami flavor. We also got the amatriciana and eggplant parmigiana, both of which were excellent. We were glad to have such good pasta for dinner! We also took a picture with our host since he’s so nice. I feel he made 50% of everyone’s good experience there. And the other 50% was great food. Overall a wonderful place to eat! 

After dinner, we headed towards the Trevi Fountain and to the Spanish Steps. The Trevi Fountain had a countdown going on and everyone crowded around to wait for the show to start. But then we later realized it turned out to be a glorified ad that repeated every 10 minutes. So we headed to the Spanish Steps first and decided we’d come back to the fountain later. 

The walk to the Spanish Steps felt so far away after a whole day of walking. But it was picturesque and fun to see all the people hanging out and enjoying their night. People were also drinking out of the fountain in front. Maybe it’s for good luck or something? My clean freak tendencies could never 😩

We then made the walk back to the Trevi Fountain. We found a spot there and proceeded to watch the ad another 3-4 times (unwillingly). During this period, people watching was so fun. There was one girl whose boyfriend was taking pictures of her for a LONG time. As in they were there before us, and the entire time they took over one corner of the fountain for her pictures. They must have had a thousand photos by the end. I’m guessing she might be some influencer? The dedication to posing and the boyfriend going above and beyond on how he took the photos was commendable. 

At one point, one of the men who stood around the fountain trying to get tourists to pay for instant film camera pictures managed to convince a guy (let’s call him Bob) and his girlfriend in front of us to get a picture taken. And this camera guy kicked the influencer girlfriend and her boyfriend out of their corner so Bob and co. could get a good spot. They were pissed. Then after the initial photo, Bob shows camera guy secretly that he has an engagement ring and whispered if he can help take photos as he proposes. At this point influencer couple got super excited and the guy even hugged Bob. And then Bob proceeded to propose! 

I cheered when Bob’s girlfriend (she looked like someone out of Real Housewives for reference, and he looked like Bruce Willis) accepted and a bunch of people cheered after me. But I’m not sure they knew what I was cheering for and probably thought I was cheering at the ad which had begun to play again. The influencer couple tried to get their spot back but they never managed to. 

During this time a guy next to us sat on a pile of fries and stood up with oil stains on his butt. Another friend and her sidekick kept trying to migrate to a better spot on the fountain over the course of like 30 minutes every time someone got up and would make her friend take a bunch more photos. A fun way to end the night and it was so overstimulating, but in an entertaining way. 

Next morning we slept in a bit (till 8AM) and headed to Regoli again. We had high hopes since yesterday’s treats were so great. We got the maritozzi con panna, bigné panna, tartine di frutta, cannoli crema, and the sfogliatelle. But I didn’t like maritozzi as much as I thought. The cream was nice and light, but again, I think overall, just too many sweet things in the morning for me. We still finished everything up though! And I did once again enjoy their fruit tart. 

We then had the choice of whether we wanted to do the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. Our tickets were valid within 24 hours of our Colosseum visit since it was bundled together. This day was supposed to be a chill day. But we ended up walking to the Colosseum again so we could make the most out of our tickets! 

Palantine Hill was very picturesque! I do worry about how they’ll continue to preserve the already crumbling bits and pieces of this place and the Roman Forum since it’s all outdoors. But seeing the remnants made it fun to imagine what life must have been like within these crumbling walls. We also got to see Julius Caesar’s final burial site and some people would leave him flowers on the unassuming corner of the Roman Forum. 

For lunch we found ourselves back around the Pantheon to visit All’Antico for lunch! The lineup was a bit bonkers but we were entertained by street artists in the square nearby as we waited. I read the sandwiches were overhyped, but some also found it really good. I was hoping I wouldn’t like it. I feel it depends what sandwich you get. I chose the Numero 4 and it had potato and truffle cream, ham, and smoked cheese. To be fair, I like Italian sandwiches even in Vancouver and would make S drive us to Italian sandwich places specifically. I loved my sandwich! It also seemed like a luck of the draw for your sandwich bread. Mine was fluffier and had more substance. S’s was much flatter and thus crunchier. The experience was nice though because we took our sandwiches to the Pantheon and ate in front of the fountain! 

After lunch, we Ubered home to rest again, but we did stop to buy a wax seal that had both our initials at Manufactus, a store I’d written down to check out because they help customize Italian leather bags and stationery. 

I napped for like 2 hours because I only had 5-6 hours of sleep the night before and wasn’t expecting to do 2 hours at the Roman Forum/Palatine Hill. But when I woke up, we walked to a nearby no frills pasta place for our last proper pasta meal! 

The place was called Pomodorum and their pasta was really good. I never used to pay attention to cacio e pepe much, but this Italy trip, it’s been my favorite dish at restaurants. Beating out carbonara, which was my prior fave. The owner at Pomodorum was also nice and gave us a free keychain bottle opener when we left marked with their store name!

I felt like we had to get one last gelato before we left and we went to the nearby Gelateria S.M. Maggiore. We got a coconut and chocolate gelato, and S also got a thick hot chocolate. I really wanted to try coconut gelato before I left, but I didn’t really like it. Instead, milk chocolate has earned my love. It’s pretty dark (for me) despite being milk chocolate in most of the gelato places here! 

After eating, we finished buying some last-minute souvenirs for our family. We had severely limited luggage space so we had to be strategic. We also knew we wanted to get some Greek souvenirs for the next leg of our trip. We did what we could but I’m worried about how we’ll fit anything from Greece in our bags 😅

Another thing to note about Rome is that you can use Uber to hail the local taxi service or Uber Blacks (so the premium Ubers). They don’t allow Uber to operate standard vehicles and only the “luxury” services. But again, we did hail a taxi with just the Uber app during our time here and it worked fine. It also showed the total cost for the third-party taxi rides. Sometimes, the Uber Black option was even cheaper though. Lots of respect to the taxi drivers in Rome because they drive like madmen. Between the cobblestone roads, tourists and people sharing the same road, and random electric scooters cutting everyone off, they really had to maneuver skillfully. 

And that was Rome! We left at 6AM the next morning from Dream Station and took a direct train to the airport. Super simple, again, especially as we lived literally across the street from the train station! Arrivederci Italy! Also thanks for making us obsessed with saying “prego” for everything! That word seems to mean just about everything under the sky in Italy 🤣