Rome Travel Diaries: Day Two

Hello everyone, I’m back with what I got up to on my second day in Rome! It’s a bit of a long post so you might want to get a snack to enjoy when you read this.

Our gorgeous hotel lobby.

As we were in Rome for a short three days we didn’t want to waste any time. We got up early and headed down to the hotel lobby for breakfast. I love food, and I can tell you that I adore hotel breakfast buffets. This breakfast buffet did not disappoint. There were fresh pastries, juices, fruit, cereal, yoghurt, an omelet station, cold cut meats and cheese and the thing that I was most excited about, a juicing station. I was so excited to create my own juice. I chose pear, apple, pineapple and carrot, however when I drank it, it tasted so strongly of ginger which means someone had used some ginger in the machine before me… which made my juice disgusting. I was so disappointed!

After several trips to the buffet, we left nice and satisfied and went to get ready for another day of exploring.

Exploring the colosseum.

We decided to take the metro to the colosseum because it was getting late. I’ve used the metro before so it was pretty easy to navigate. The tickets are only €1.50 which is really affordable!

 

Admiring the beautiful views.

As we left the metro station we were greeted straight away by lots of ‘promoters’ that ‘worked’ for the colosseum offering their services and private tours. We ignored them and headed straight to the reservation desk to pick up our tickets.

A panoramic shot of the colosseum.

My mum (thanks mummy!) had pre-booked us tickets for the colosseum so we wouldn’t have to wait in the long lines when we got there. This is something I would definitely recommended! I’ve inserted the link here to where she purchased the tickets for us! The tickets cost us €9.50 as we chose the tickets for EU citizens between the ages of 18 and 25. The line can get pretty long for the colosseum so pre-booking tickets is a massive time saver, especially if you’re only there for a couple of days!

I couldn’t of asked for better weather!

Outfit details:

Top: Topshop £34.00

Jeans: Pretty Little Thing £25.00

Sunglasses: Riverisland  £14.00

Belt: Riverisland £14.00

Shoes: Converse £49.99

Bag: Celine

 

The colosseum is absolutely breathtaking. It’s crazy to think that it was built so long ago and it is still the largest amphitheater ever built. Although it is partially ruined due to earthquakes stone-robbers you can still imagine how stunning it would have been in 80AD.

The Palatine Hills and Roman Forum from the Colosseum.

We also visited the Roman Forum-Palatine as it is included when you purchase the colosseum tickets and it’s only a short distance from the colosseum. The Palatine Hill is an archeological site that’s open to the public. It is one of the seven hills of Rome and is also one of the most ancient parts of Rome. The Palatine Hill boasts an impressive collection of monuments such as the houses of Livia and Augustus, the Palace of Domitian and the Temple of Tiberius.

 

A beautiful shot of some of the ruins.

As we were so interested and amazed by all the beautiful things we didn’t realise it was getting pretty late on in the afternoon. We were very hungry and decided to leave The Palatine Hills to find some lunch, although I definitely could of spent all day there exploring!

I was so amazed by how beautiful everything was!

We left the colosseum on the hunt for another lunch spot. We decided to leave the main square around the colosseum and head for the side streets hoping to find an authentic Italian restaurant instead of a chain restaurant. We came across a couple restaurants which looked average but didn’t blow us away so we kept looking. We were both getting a little hangry until we spotted this little restaurant which had it’s windows hidden by a little cream curtain and tiny fairy lights. We were so intrigued and decided to step inside and have a peek at the menu. We were greeted by friendly faces and walls that were adorned with photographs of what I can only assume were famous Italian people.

The walls that were full of photographs and mementos.

We quickly sat down and looked through the menu, my sister had her mind set on Ravioli and I was unsure of what to get. I asked the waiter to give me his recommendation and he recommended the Cacio E Pepe. Cacio E Pepe is a famous Roman dish which roughly translates into ‘cheese and pepper‘. I mean, who wouldn’t want to eat that?

My sister’s spinach and ricotta ravioli.

My sister’s food came pretty quickly and I had to watch her eat hers as I eagerly waited for mine. The waiter finally brought mine out and I couldn’t of been happier. The spaghetti arrived in a parmesan cup which is why it took longer than my sisters to arrive. The parmesan cup just added so much to the dish and really complemented the creamy spaghetti. This has definitely been one of my favourite meals so far.

My delicious Cacio E Pepe, look at the parmesan cup!

We decided to finish our meal off by sharing a tiramisu, now, I am not a coffee drinker and don’t like the taste of coffee so when my sister asked to share a tiramisu I turned my nose up at the offer. However, when it arrived my sister kept going on about how delicious the cream was, I couldn’t help but taste it and I was pleasantly surprised. It was so rich and delicious and I definitely take what I said about tiramisu back.

The gorgeous tiramisu we shared.

We headed back to our hotel to have a little rest before heading back out for dinner. We popped into a couple churches on the way back and I can’t believe how gorgeous every church is. They are all so unique and all beautiful in their own way.

The gorgeous ceiling in a church.

More breathtaking ceilings!

Some beautiful detailing on a fountain we saw on the way home.

Enjoying the lovely status and fountains.

We found another gorgeous, slightly more ‘fancy‘ Italian restaurant to have dinner in and I ordered a carbonara. I think that you can tell that I love spaghetti… the carbonara was very creamy and so delicious. I couldn’t fault it. Another successful meal, but, I think it would be very hard to be disappointed by food in Rome. We headed back to the hotel after a long day of exploring and walking, we were very ready for a long bath and to crawl into bed.

My delightful carbonara and my sister’s pesto gnocchi.

I’m so sorry for the terribly long post, there is just so much to write about!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading what I got up to on day 2! I’ve just got one more day to write about, so that will be up soon. If you want to read what I got up to on day one, click here.

Has this made you want to travel to Rome? Let me know in the comments. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Love, Cally x