steph in the cities: when in rome

We left London and flew to Rome, Italy. It was about a 2 and a half hour flight so not bad at all. The airlines in Europe can be very affordable, but always check their baggage policies because they can be more strict.

Anywho, we went ahead and took out a good amount of Euros from the ATM, because the rest of the European nations use Euros we would use them for the rest of our trip. My boyfriend and I pretty much split everything during this trip so we would withdraw the same amount and put it together and not worry about who was paying for what - it was always just split.

We spent the most time in Rome out of all of our destinations. The food in Rome was amazing and inexpensive. We ate so much pizza and pasta - we were stuffed. I recommend trying the most simple dishes, such as Cacio e Pepe which is basically pasta tossed in parmesan and pepper, also the classics just tomato sauce or pesto is great when it comes to pizza margarita is the go to. One thing to note about Rome and Italy, in general, is that a lot of the restaurants have odd hours from what we are used to. A lot of places are only open at night, so sometimes lunch spots are hard to find. We went to a local grocery and bought a bunch of fresh bread, cheeses, and meats to make sandwiches too. The bakery's in Rome are delicious - must try the pistachio gelato.

We did a tour of the Colosseum which was awesome to see in person, a lot of the tours are better to book in advance because they do fill up. Get Your Guide is a great tool to help set up tours throughout most countries. Along with the Colosseum, we visited a few museums and the Roman Forum which is next to the Colosseum. When it came to transportation in Rome we mostly walked because our Airbnb location was so central, but they do have a metro system, as well as buses, and taxis.

While in Rome we went to Vatican City to visit the Vatican and also Saint Peters Square. The Vatican is amazing, even for someone like myself who isn't very religious the art all over the walls is incredible. The Sistine Chapel is the main site inside, but its all great. Photos aren't allowed inside the Sistine Chapel, and they're very strict on noise in general. The Vatican does get extremely crowded, and there are a lot of panhandlers trying to sell things to you constantly outside, so beware.

Ciao for now!