Tucci made me do it! (Aka Our city break to Rome, Part one).

Buongiorno, Hello, anyone there? Forgive me for not updating this blog in, wait for it, over a year!

Where the hell did the time go? I knew it had been a while but not that long. I keep searching the blog, adamant there must be a more recent post, but alas, nothing since February 2021.

In all fairness to myself it has been one heck of a year! The bakery has come on in leaps and bounds, we have a whole team of staff (managing them is an entire job in itself) and navigating the business through a pandemic has not been easy. I’m trying to cast my mind back over the last 15 months, a lot and nothing seems to have happened at the same time. It was a blur of bakery closures and struggling through staff shortages (covid), therapy (dealing with overwhelm), training two new bakers, a couple of UK holidays all while trying to exercise and maintain a social life. So pretty much the same as everyone, right?

But I’m here now, trying to get my head around my new laptop which is taking me some time as I usually do my blog posts using my phone. Insane now I think about it, no wonder I needed to start wearing glasses.

So what has pulled me from my radio silence and back to the world of blogging? That would be my recent trip to Rome.

Travel

I’m going to start with the getting there as that was what I was most concerned about. We had an early evening flight that got us to Camping airport in Rome at 9:30pm. None of this journey is of any interest but I wanted to highlight how easy it was. This was our first trip abroad since early 2020 and I was super anxious about getting everything right. I read up obsessively on all of the documents we needed to enter Italy. Some of it was a little contradictory but the thing that was clear is that we needed proof of our vaccinations and possibly a self certified statement to say we had recently tested and didn’t currently have covid. Oh and a high grade FF2P mask which I went out and purchased especially. I printed everything off, downloaded our vaccination passports, I was fully armed for every eventuality.

Friends, we weren’t asked for anything!

No statement, no covid passport, no test results. It wasn’t mentioned at all. We did have to wear masks on the flight but it could be any old mask which means I have a box of 20 fancy ones if anyone needs one. Pah!

Where we stayed

Usually I am the one who finds the accommodation when booking holidays but after the under stair cupboard with no natural light that we stayed in in Budapest, Joe has been a little wary of my choices (even though I found us some great accommodation in Cornwall). With that in mind he decided to choose where we stated in Rome. It was okay. Nothing special about it. A bedroom/dining area, tiny kitchen, tiny shower but the building was nice, it was clean and that’s all we needed for a short stay. The biggest selling point however was the location. Amazing!

We stayed in the Ponte district which is about a 5 minute walk from Trastevere (our favourite place in Rome) and the street we stayed on was perfect. We always use https://www.airbnb.co.uk/ when finding somewhere to stay and its great for finding information on what’s close to the area you’re staying. It was also cheaper to stay just outside of Trastevere while still being super close. The street we were on was Via di Monte Giordano and it was full of beautiful trattorias, a small supermarket and surrounded by other cobbled streets that were all full of cafes and bars. Everything we needed was on our doorstep and Castel Sant Angelo was literally at the top of the street, plus most other attractions were within walking distance.

Italy, and the spring and first love all together should suffice to make the gloomiest person happy.

Bertrand russell

What we did

Trastavere

On that first morning in Rome we spent an hour or so wandering the cobbled streets practically floating with happiness at how breathtakingly beautiful everything was. Every building, every door, even every wall was aesthetically pleasing. Peeling, faded paint in hues of pink, yellow and rust greeted us at every corner we turned, tumbling plants hung from balconies and windows, fresh water drinking fountains appeared, as if by magic, at the exact moment you realised you were thirsty. The sun kissed our shoulders as we made our way over the river Tiber to Trastevere.

According to Google, Trastevere is “a funky, bohemian area that clings to its centuries old, working class roots.” I don’t suppose that’s too bad of a description. It’s absolutely bohemian which is what we loved about it the first time we visited. It’s winding streets are full of independant cafes, art studios, boutiques and trattorias. The most effortlessly cool women stroll on by chatting animatedly to friends while smoking cigarettes. If Romans know that smoking is bad for you, they definitely don’t care. I didn’t see one person vaping or a single vape shop, I did see plenty of Tabaccaio, little kiosks dotted around the city and the only place that you can legally buy ciggarettes.

You will also find plenty of Basilica to visit. You can wander inside and gape at the jaw dropping interiors or maybe say a little prayer or light a candle if that’s your thing. I’m not a religious person but I would consider myself spiritual and even if you are neither of those things the architecture alone will be enough to peak your interest.

Sights and attractions

The reason we chose Rome as the first place to visit after the pandemic is because we had already been before and seen all of the major sights, which meant that this time around we could have a more relaxed time rather than rushing from attraction to attraction in the short amount of time we were there. That being said, because we were in such a great location, it was a short walking distance to most attractions so we did end up visiting a few again. It seems impossible to me that you could ever get bored of taking in the grandeur of the Trevi fountain or sitting on the Spanish steps and once you’re in those places, you may as well hop on over to the next as they’re closer than you think. We had planned on getting tickets to the Vatican museums but they were sold out but we walked around Vatican City anyway as we were heading that way for some awesome food. More on that later.

Villa Borghese Gardens

While wandering around Piazza del Popolo we made a last minute decision to visit the Villa Borghese gardens. I am a sucker for visiting parks, especially in hot cities when it can be hard to find a shady spot to relax under. I must add that Pizza del Popolo is a beautiful open square and quite special to me as it was my first proper sighting of the Rome we imagine when we first stumbled upon it on our first trip. There are a couple of huge domed buildings, a church and the city gates. It’s a wonderful places to sit and eat a slice of pizza rosso while planning your next move. Our next move was an aperol spritz and then the gardens.

It’s an uphill walk to the entrance to the gardens but once up there you are rewarded with an amazing view of the piazza and the city. Full of lush green plants, statues and temples, its definitely worth a visit while in the area. There’s also a cafe, bikes, golf buggies and scooters available to hire if you’re already done with walking for the day.

Campo de’ Fiori

You simply cannot visit Rome without sampling the goods from this bustling food market. I was pretty hungover on the day we went so I headed straight to a juice stall for a carrot, orange and ginger juice. It was so good and I swear I was instantly healed. All of the stalls are practically overflowing with fresh produce. Fruit, vegetables, oils, flowers. you can also buy ornaments and Italian crockery. It’s such an explosion of colour and sounds and if you’re anything like me you won’t be able to resist one of the fresh fruit cups. There are also plenty of places to explore, shop and eat while you’re in the area.

Ponte Sant Angelo

A delightful bridge that connects you to Castel Sant Angelo. The whole area is stunning, especially first thing in the morning or early in the evening. On the last day of our trip I got up early and took myself on a walk. I went to a little cafe at around 7am and ordered a cappuccino to take away. I was chuffed to bits with myself for doing that as I was so nervous about making an idiot of myself and felt like I stood out like a sore thumb. It was all fine though and the old boys working there helped me pick out the right coins to pay. Little things like that are what make my days that extra bit special.

I walked down to the bridge with my coffee and joined the throng of tourists and locals on their way to work. The bridge itself is strewn with tall statues of Angels, hence its name. Once at the other side, the Castel looms over you and if you turn to the right you’ll find a lovely tree lined garden full of dog walkers and benches. I sat their for a long while watching the city wake up and come to life. I always try to have a little time to myself wherever we go. Time to contemplate and enjoy just being. I also love the feeling of independence I get when I’m alone in a new place, its euphoric.

Ponte milvio and The Maxxi

On our last day in Rome there just happened to be an exhibition on by one of Joes favourite photographers, Daido Moriyama. It was exhibiting at The Maxxi and as it was 32˚ that day I was looking forward to getting out of the midday heat and seeing some art. The Maxxi itself is quite a trek out of the city centre so we hopped on a bus to get there. While the exhibition itself was amazing I had a whale of a time in the gallery shop! Don’t you just love a gallery shop? you can always find a good book or some other quirky treasures that you can’t find anywhere else. I came away with a new tote bag to add to my already quite large collection of totes that I always forget to use.

After spending an hour or so in the gallery we headed over to Ponte Milvio. We had already planned this out before hand because Ponte Milvio is where we stayed the first time we visited Rome. Its about 30 mins by bus from the centre of Rome and the walk from The Maxxi took us through a much more residential area. Full of scruffy, old apartment blocks, parks, and neighbourhood trattorias and cafes it’s a definite eye opener compared to the city centre. Once you cross over the bridge you enter into Ponte Milvio neighbourhood which if full of cafes and bars and where we ate some of the best food in Rome. Apart from the food and piazzas there’s not much in the way of tourist pulls but it is a glimpse into the life of the people and families who live in Rome going about their day and that is as fascinating to me as the architecture, if not more.

Coypus

I feel it would be remiss of me to talk about our trip without bringing up the delightful Coypus that Joe thought was a giant rat! Whilst walking along the Tiber one evening I looked down and happened to notice something swimming in the river. I get absolutely giddy at seeing wildlife so ran down the (approximately 100) steps to get closer to the river.

And that’s when I saw it, the cutest little thing. I followed it until it climbed out and it started drying itself off in front of me. It was honestly the funniest little thing. It seemed to be drying itself down with an invisible towel, even getting under its armpits. I posted a photo to Instagram and after a message from my friend Charlotte and a quick google, found that it was infact a Coypu, sometimes know as Nutria. I knew it wasn’t a rat!

Apparently they were introduced to Italy many years ago for their fur and are known locally to Italians as “Castorino” which means “little beaver”. Finding it honestly made my trip, has anyone else seen one in Rome before?

Anyway, this is where I leave you for now as this has taken much longer than expected and I’ve got nothing else done today!

Part two will be with you shortly, Arrivederci.

Love, Roxy

Let us never know what old age is. Let us know the happiness time brings, not count the years.

Ausonius