If you missed any parts to this continuous blog please click the links just below.
2015 European Road Trip Part 1
2015 European Road Trip Part 2
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During our trip to Italy, we had noticed that the rumours
were true, Italians are the worst drivers I've seen, and I thought the Yellow
Taxi drivers in New York were crazy! It seems road rules, markings and safety
measures are mere suggestions. To drive in Italy, you have to be quick thinking
and sadly very rude, we were so polite, letting people out and keeping an eye
on all around us, but by the end of the trip we were just and stubborn and
brash.
From Pisa to Rome, we had planned on driving into the city
to our hotel and spending three day's walking around, but as we got closer and
closer, I thought Mike might have a heart attack, so we decided to book
ourselves into an airport parking lot and get a taxi to our hotel.
Our taxi drivers car was scratched and dented, as were all
other cars there, and that journey was one of the most hair raising of my life!
Arriving at our hotel, the lovely Royal Court, in the centre of Rome, we had a
ground floor room and although the front entrance had steps there was
wheelchair access thought the hotels court yard. Our room was incredibly plush
with gold wall paper, restored furniture and a balcony overlooking the well
kept and charming court yard. The staff couldn't be more helpful either.
After a long day driving and walking around Pisa we were
tired and ordered a take away pizza from a local pizzeria called Andrea's,
which was delicious and fell asleep watching bad Italian music channels.
The next morning we were up by half past 6. With only 48
hours in town, we were going fit as much in as possible! We had decided that we
were going to cover everything we possibly could that wasn't the Colosseum and
the Forum! So we hoped on a Red Bus tour to see as much of the city from a
higher point of view for photos. We saw; the ancient ruins,
the Republica and Santa Maria monuments, the
Circo Massimo - A famous chariot racing stadium and
Piazza Venezia - one of the most prominent sights in Rome, as
it's so high, huge and white you can see it from many places all over the city.
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| Pia Venzia |
We got off the tour bus at
Vatican City. Now, I mean no
disrespect to any Catholics reading, but apart from seeing
St. Peters Square
and the city it's self, we weren't going to go inside, especially after seeing a
3 hour long queue surrounding the famous church. But then a kind stranger said
that we didn't have to queue for the attraction because I was disabled, so we thought, why not?
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| St Peter's Basilica |
Boy, am I glad we did. St Peter's Basilica was breath taking
and rendered me speechless. The detail, opulence and sheer size of the place
was astounding. The sculptures, mosaics
and artwork was some of the best I've ever seen, we of course took a million
photos of it all, including some amazing artistic photos Mike took of the
painted domes and ceilings (*side note - I seem to have a minor obsession for
beautiful ceilings which began in the New York Library Rose Room, Continued in
St Peters and thrilled later on in Versailles lol!).
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| Beautiful Ceilings |
Despite my religious beliefs, I left those who were praying
in peace and remained respectful of the religious collections but I was
disgusted to see tourists climbing up statues and monuments for selfies and
better photos! I wanted to personally shoo them out of the building or run them
over with my wheelchair - infuriating!
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| Inside the Church |
After the Vatican we visited the
Trevi Fountain which was
under restoration behind Perspex class and covered in scaffolding - gutted. We
consoled ourselves with Gelato at
Il Gelato di San Crispino which our Lonley
planet book cited as a possible contender for Romes best ice cream - we can
voucher that it probably is!
Next we went to
The Spanish Steps which were a lovely spot
for a little sit (for those other than myself!) surrounded by lovely shops and
cafes. We made our way up behind the steps and over to
Piazza del Popolo for
some superb views of the steps and we were high enough to see Rome's rustic
skyline.
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| Rome Skyline |
Here we encountered some flower sellers who were persistent
despite us saying No over and over again. They kept giving me flowers for "free"
which I put down to leave behind and they still tried to get cash out of Mike
and he wasn't shy about telling them to bugger off, so my advice to be firm,
look away and despite being British - be blatantly rude to them.
After walking all day in the 32 degree heat, 60% humidity and the cities never ending hills and cobbled streets we decided to
head back to our hotel to chill out before dinner.
After a rest for Mikes aching body and an extensive Trip
advisor search, we decided on a restaurant called
La Carbonara a 109 year old
eatery famous for its name sake dish. A tip with any restaurant in Rome; pre
book at least 24 hours before or arrive at 7pm for a table, we did the latter
and it was already packed but they gave us a table.
We had both been obnoxiously lazy in learning more than
basic Italian and it came to bite us on the arse in
La Carbonara. The menu
wasn't translated and neither of us had any signal on our phones. So we played
a game of eeni meeni miini moh which since neither of us is a fussy eater,
worked quite well - I had a raw mushroom salad and the best Carbonara in the
world, Mike had a mozzarella salad and a spicy tomato and garlic spaghetti main
and by the way when ordering a glass of Coke call it Coca-Cola as Coke is mistaken for a much ruder
word - much to my blushes.
Since the night was young, we decided to go to lovely
cocktail bar for a few drinks in the cool city breeze, we eventually got back
to the hotel very full, relaxed and very ready for bed.
L x
