As an Australian colleague of mine pointed, we in Europe are lucky to be able to hop on an airplane and in a matter of two or three hours be able to get to get to another country and visit quite different places from where we live. Last week I've took a short break from daily routine and went on a short trip to Italy, to visit Rome. We stayed there for 5 days but had enough time to see the main sights.
From tourist perspective, Rome is quite a tourist friendly city that you can visit by foot, most of the important sights being in walking distance one of each other. And for the others you can just take the subway. I could speak for hours of all the things you can and should do in Rome, since it's a very rich city in terms of sights and things to do, so I will just tell you what I found special.
After visiting Florence earlier in the year and enjoying lots of ice-cream (my favorite being the one with wine) I was looking forward to eat even more in Rome. The best ice-cream I could find in Rome was close to the Pantheon at Della Palma. They literally have hundreds of flavors and types of Gelato so you could eat there every day for weeks and still not manage to try them all. And it tastes just great.
Still on the culinary field, I tried out a cachi fruit as they do not grow in my country and I have never saw one before sold anywhere. It was the season so they were sold at every fruit stand in Rome so I couldn't leave without trying one.
Sightseeing wise, don't go to Rome without visiting the Vatican and climbing to the top of St. Peter's chapel. Also take your time to visit the Vatican Museum. It's really worth it. Don't get scared by the lines for the ticket as they usually move quite fast. I didn't stayed at any line longer than 10-15 minutes.
The Sant'Angelo castle is a place worth visiting, but try reading the history of the place before getting there or buying the audio guide. It's a totally different feeling knowing the history while strolling around the castle and dark passages dating from Roman ages.
I think Rome has the friendliest seagulls. In two occasions we got a seagull standing for tens of minutes at less than one meter from us posing to the tourists. They seemed to be very accustomed with that.
Rome is also a very animated city, with lots of people on the streets at every hour, and full of cars, however except close to the sights, you don't really fell crowded and there seems to be enough space and green areas.
I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of this wonderfully preserved Fiat 500 classic. It's really an iconic Italian vehicle and you can find these and the Vespa's on virtually every piece of tourist memorabilia, from magnets to calendars and mugs.
You can't say you have been to Rome till you saw the Colosseum and strolled on the passageways where romans used to walk 2000 years ago. If you go past the construction work that is being carried out at the moment and the crowd of "Selfie" sellers outside, the interior it's really worth visiting.
Last but not least I finally saw in real life Colonna Traiana which I saw so many times in all the history books printed in my country. Truly amazing to be standing close to it!
As a end to this journey I experienced a very cool approach and landing at arrival in Bucharest in rain and 20 knots winds. Very good job of the Blue Air crew and looking at how the rest of the passengers applauded seems there were more people impressed by the perfect touchdown in not so perfect weather.
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