I Do As the Romans // Rome, Part I

Hey! Quick note. A lot of you mentioned in the comments how cool/unusual it is to just be like, "Hey, let's go to Rome next month, lolz!". I wanted to quickly address that! It's true, one of the blessings of living in Europe is that it's easy and often very inexpensive to travel to other places within Europe. I know that it is not like that for everyone, and that traveling overseas can be hundreds (if not thousands) of euro and months of planning for those in different continents. It's a darned shame! I hope that all you lovely people across the oceans get to come over here someday and check out this cool continent. And meanwhile, I hope you enjoy getting a little taste of it through my photographs and stories.
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When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Apparently that means eating lots of pizza and gelato, and walking around a lot.

 When Heather found tickets to Rome on sale and asked us if we'd like to go, I was obviously pretty excited. I started pinning stuff to our "Roman Holiday" pinterest board faster than you could say Pizzeria.

 We (mom, sister, myself) were there for three days - not counting the first day, in which we arrived at night and just went straight to the hotel. The first proper day was pretty great. So Imma tell you 'bout it.

How To Spend Your First Day in Rome

I mean, this is how I spent my first day, and it was pretty cool, so...

1. Don't get a good night's sleep. All night long you will hear the clang clang clang of trolleys (why do they run all night?) (also, isn't that from a song in Meet Me in St. Louis?), and the rumbling of trucks collecting the rubbish. This is an important part of your Roman experience. Embrace it.

2. Wake up and grumpily say "What is that noise?" The kid in the flat above you is attempting to learn O' Christmas Tree on the piano. He or she isn't very good at it yet. Also, someone down on the street is shouting "BELLISSIMO!" really loudly. This is your Roman wake-up call.

3. Get Coffee. Worried that the people working at the cafe might not know English? Well, they probably do, but even if they don't, just remember: the words 'Cappuccino' and 'Croissant' are universal. Use that to your advantage.

4. Walk to the Colosseum. Once there, absorb some history. Say "Wow, this place is huge" and take many photos.

5. Next, visit the Roman Forum. It's right next to the Colosseum, can't miss it. Look at all the broken pieces of ancient buildings and think about how cool they are.

6. Keep walking. Walk all over that city.

8. Try out some Italian. Hint: Just add "iano" to the end of words, and it sounds pretty Italian. Italiano.

9. Take a look at some awesome place called "Altare della Patria". Try to take some photos, but trust me: it's so big, it probably won't fit in the pic.

11. Take a bus tour! Make sure you sit on the top deck. Even though it's getting a tad bit chilly outside.

12. Visit a couple of Cathedrals. They are honestly all over the place. Obviously. Note how seriously huge and intimidatingly fancy they are. Don't make eye contact with the priests in the confession boxes. #awkward

13. Have dinner. Pizza. Duh.

14. Go back to your hotel. Tip: Bring a BBC mini-series along in case you want something to watch before you go to sleep. I recommend bringing Our Mutual Friend. (Or as we fondly call it, Our Mutual Creeper. Cuz seriously.)

15. Get some sleep. Just a tip, during the day you might want to purchase some earplugs. Especially if you are from the middle of nowhere in Ireland where the only sound you're used to hearing at night is the occasional braying of a donkey and not some Italian child playing Christmas carols.


Follow these steps and you are guaranteed to have a lovely first day in Rome.


Til next time, folks ;)
Hannah