Around the World in 33 Days: Rome

I caught my 10:30 Ryanair Flight to Rome!! My one true love!! This was to be my fourth trip and I was so excited. I had booked a nice hostel, it was the same place Kelly, Missy and I had stayed at 2 years ago. So I was pumped!

Only I got there and a LOT had changed in 2 years. It now ranks as the sketchiest place I’ve ever stayed. My roommates creeped me out so I didn’t take out my laptop or tablet. It all stayed locked in my pack because guess what? There were no lockers. The room smelled funny too. And I’ll start this post off with all the bad parts of Rome before moving onto the best parts aka everything not Hostel related. 

Because guess what… I got bedbugs!! Yeah it was wonderful and itchy and I looked like I had the bubonic plague or something all down my arm and back. My first two nights I was like "no that can’t be bed bugs". Not everything was matching up to symptoms of bed bugs so I was like meh something must have bitten me while out walking. Thank goodness my youth was filled with horrible poison ivy and a mother who always told me not to scratch.  This was easy enough to ignore and not scratch. Except for one on my right hand… that scabbed. Ugh. But it’s all better now!! Yay! But it killed my first afternoon in Prague (more on this next post!).

I just skimmed the bed bugs here because I'd like to do a more in depth talk about them and how much it actually sucks and the easiest way to get rid of them.

Now onto all the good bits and the parts that were amazing!

I obviously saw all of my normal digs…

And I did a lot of hiking up hills to get good views…

Come on it’s a lovely city and it leaves you breathless and you can’t help but just be in awe of the beauty!

I made a cool journey outside of the city one afternoon to the Aqueduct park! It was worth the 3 euro cost of round trip metro tickets!

Come on! How does that not leave you breathless!?

I mean these used to be the life line of Ancient Rome and they’re still standing! Like holy hell! But the craziest part of the park was the juxtaposition with the modern world. Here are aqueducts that are thousands of years old. And right through the park passes the train/ metro. And airplanes pass over head because it's so close to the airport.

I did a surprising amount of night time wandering. I was sort of laughing at myself the one night because when I first started traveling solo I was in my hostel at sundown. I never saw cities at night. Then one trip I was like fuck it. If I’m smart and follow my gut then there’s not going to be a problem. And suddenly my comfort zone was a bit larger and the world was open!

But I think the highlight of this stop in Rome was my cooking class! I took a class on how to make pasta! I splurged $70 on the class. But boy was it worth it. Between the good food, presseco and wine I made friends and can now be uber pretentious and be like (Read in snoody voice) “Yes I learned to make this dish while in Rome.” Hahaha.

And check out this!! It’s like a guitar for cutting pasta!!! How cool!!!

((Video to come... but hostel wifi is not agreeing with me tonight!!))

When my last day in Rome came I was pretty excited to leave! Prague was waiting. Lenka and I had Thanksgiving plans! And the prospect of a bed bug free bed was enticing. Although the idea of losing hours in Prague to de-bug was not enticing.

So it was off to Prague!

Cheers,

12 Flights 7 Weeks: Rome

Rome.... In case my previous two obsessive posts about my last 2 trips there weren't enough to let you in on the secret that I'm in love with this city then perhaps I shall drive the point home with the fact that this was my third trip to Rome and I am still as enamored as ever with the city. I'll elope there one day.

So my cousin's friend had sold everything and was traveling and we were in Rome the same time. Obviously we had to get together. Kelly and I met up with Missy at the hotel. After an ever embarrassing exit from the wrong side of Termini we made it to the hotel. I would like to point out that the last time I was in Rome i came out the wrong side of Termini because the tourist map confuses me like hell because I always think it should be the other way round. 

We found Missy though. And she had booked us into a cool ass hotel on Via Napoleon III. We had three single beds in the room and our own bathroom. The poor girls dealt with my still recovering digestive system like champs. I love them. 

It was just about dinner time so we made our first foray into Rome and had some delicious fucking pasta and pizza for dinner. And they had beer but I was putting it off for another day. After dinner we had a kind of early night. Because the next day was our only full day in Rome and I had HUGE plans for us!

Breakfast was amazing and there was so much food and we ate tons. Then hit the city. First stop?! The Colosseum! We hit the church that Michelangelo's Moses is in. 

Then I almost got us lost on the way to the Colosseum.... oops. 

But we made it there and I shared fun facts. Like did you know they used to flood the place so they could have mock naval battles! How bad ass!

We had to see Piazza del Campidoglio.....

We had an amazing lunch of yummy pasta and pizza!

 Then we saw the Pantheon. I love that place. It's so old and majestic. Did you know the floors are original? So when you walk through there you're literally walking on history!

Then it was Gelato time at my main digs in Piazza Navona.

Then we tried to book it to the Vatican before it closed. We did see the outside of Saint Peters. It was as lovely as ever. 

We also saw Saint Michael's Castle on the way over. It's still lovely and round! And epic!!

We also swung by the Trevi Fountain.... yes it was under construction and I couldn't throw a coin in to ensure my return....

On our way back to the hotel we hit up Spar. We got wine and munchies! lots of munchies and all I have to prove this is a bad phone picture. 

Like bread and pesto and cheese and meats. And we had a feast of epic proportions. Overshadowed a wee bit by the fact that we had grabbed a cab back to our hotel for the last little leg and Missy had left he camera in the cab. She wasn't a whiny bitch about it and she manned up about it quite nicely by not complaining when she could have complained a lot. Because she had taken some really kick ass photos on it! 

The next day was supposed to be filled with the first road and catacombs but turns out we saw the Trevi Fountain again. And we opted for a long delicious lunch instead of over extending out site seeing. 

And holy hell was that not thee most amazing lunch ever!!! And we cleaned the plates like starving people!

I want to eat it all over again. We also had lots of wine and it was amazing. 

Rome was definitely a perfect spot for a recovering Taylor to binge eat and try to gain weight. 

After our lunch we took goofy selfies...

Hit the super market for food souvenirs and pasta for dinner back in Edinburgh. Then we made a slightly tearful departure from Missy to race to the airport!

And off to Scotland we went!

But for your enjoyment.... extra walk about pictures!

Cheers,