Today we woke up and had an amazing breakfast at our hotel, iQ Hotel Roma. There is a rooftop restaurant here with nice indoor and outdoor seating. The views are not great because it is not that high of a building but it was nice to sit outside. The breakfast was a buffet but it was the best breakfast we both have ever had while traveling! The eggs, sausage, and bacon were great! There were so many options: cheese, fruit, freshly squeezed orange juice, and many styles of coffee. It was very good.
After breakfast we walked to The Colosseum; it was only about a 20 minute walk from our hotel. It opened at 8:30 and we got there around then. I read the lines can get really long so I’m really glad we got there when we did. I had already bought tickets online so we didn’t have to wait in that line. Tickets were only 14 Euros per person and they are valid for 2 days. With these tickets you can visit The Colosseum, The Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill. You can only enter the sites once, but these tickets are nice that you get 2 days to see the sites. Here’s the link to the ticket site if you are ever interested:
We did all three sites at once because this was our last full day in Rome. Getting to the Colosseum early before the crowds was essential because we had great views and we could take pictures easily. I think that going here early is key, because within a half hour to 45 minutes the tour groups started pouring in. We did not do a tour but we did buy an audio tour when we got there for 5 euros. I really enjoyed seeing the Colosseum, it was a really cool. It was very pretty and just hard to believe these ancient ruins exist in a city.
After the Colosseum we walked across the way to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. The Roman Forum was basically an ancient marketplace. Within the forum there were ruins of old government and public buildings. We walked around and then made our way to Palatine Hill. From what I understand Palatine Hill was the home to many emperors of ancient Rome. It was a desirable place to live and overlooked the forum. The views of the city were fantastic. It was also very cool to see the Colosseum from atop Palatine Hill. We did not explore Palatine Hill as much because we were getting ruined out and we wanted to see more of Rome.
We made our way out of the ruins to look for some lunch. We chose a place called L’Archetto. I was still craving pizza so I ordered a pepperoni pizza, which really turned out to be a cheese pizza with red and yellow peppers on it, haha no pepperoni. So now I know! But it was delicious, much better than the pizza we had the night before. Don ordered what looked like a spaghetti with hot dogs in it. He said he really enjoyed it. It was definitely the best meal so far here in Rome.
After lunch we took the bus so we could get closer to Trevi Fountain. The fountain was so crowded, but it was very beautiful. We took some pictures here and had some gelato.
Then we walked more and found The Pantheon. That was pretty cool and free to enter.
After that we kind of just wandered around and ended up looking over the river. We were both getting tired of walking and wanted to find a place to chill. Don looked up a cool bar and so we headed towards it. On the way we found the Piazza Navona, which is a city square with some pretty cool fountains. There are also a lot of restaurants and bars surrounding the Piazza Navona. We decided to take a rest and have a drink at a place called Caffe Nettuno. It was a nice place to relax for a bit and people watch. On our way out of the square we saw a pretty good Micheal Jackson impersonator.
We were still determined to try out this micro brew bar that Don found so we headed towards that. The place was called My Ale Craft Beer and Food. It was so cute! I tried a Weiss style beer and a Saison Fragola, which was a strawberry flavored beer that was amazing. Don had a scotch ale and a coffee stout. We ordered a meat and cheese tray. Everything was so good! Now this was our favorite place in Rome. The guy working there was pretty nice and he even gave use some free bread later on. If you’re in Rome and you like beer and delicious meats, cheeses, and sandwiches definitely check this place out!
Afterwards we hopped on the city bus again back to the hotel. We went up to the hotel bar to have our free drink. Don had a prosecco and I had a cappuccino. We ate some paninis and played scrabble. It was a really cool place to hang out at the hotel. We then had to get ready and pack to leave for the Cinque Terre.