A photo diary from four sunny days in the Eternal City last summer.
Julien and I had been to Rome separately before - I went with one of my best friends for a long weekend way back in 2008, so I was long overdue another visit - so we had a relaxed approach to sightseeing: we revisited a few places together, didn't have an itinerary or book anything, and instead spent most of the time just wandering, eating and drinking our way around the city. The best kind of long weekend.
wearing Cynthia Rowley dress & Adidas gazelle trainers
We battled the crowds at the Sistine Chapel to see Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam fresco and the 120-metre long Galleria delle Carte Geografiche at the Vatican, which is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. The Gallery of Maps was commissioned in 1581 by Pope Gregory XIII Boncompagni, who called upon the famous geographer Egnazio Danti for the ambitious project of representing the whole of the Italian peninsula on the gallery walls. Danti brought a large team of artists from his native Perugia to create forty huge maps covering the Italian regions and islands, in vivid green and blue with antiquated names and curious details, trimmed with ornate gold. It is absolutely stunning.
We saw some of Raphael's most famous frescoes, which marked the beginning of the High Renaissance, in the Vatican, couldn't face joining the queue of hundreds to go inside St. Peter's Basilica so just wandered around the outside with its domed roof and fourteen roofline statues, made a wish at the Trevi Fountain, climbed the Spanish Steps, walked around the Colosseum, sat and watched the crowds at Piazza Navona, visited the Pantheon, hired a pedal car to go round the gorgeous landscaped gardens of Villa Borghese, and went inside every church and cathedral we passed.
This being Italy, we of course ate (and drank) very well - highlights included bellinis followed by trofie pasta with cheese, black pepper and Norcia truffle at the iconic Harry's Bar on Via Veneto, aperitivo in the secluded garden at Caffe Ciampini near the top of the Spanish Steps with golden hour views of Rome (and a fountain filled with turtles), and gelato at the green marbled, gold lettered traditional ice cream parlour Giolitti Roma dal 1890, which has been making ice creams with the best quality ingredients and fresh fruit for over 100 years - there were hordes of tourists, but the queue goes quickly and it's worth it; the stracciatella was especially delicious. One night we shared a bottle of prosecco at dusk at Le Jardin de Russie, a beautiful terraced oasis in the five star Hotel de Russie next to the bustling Piazza del Popolo and its elegant basilica. We'll definitely go back for dinner next time. We stayed at The Church Palace, which is a nice four star hotel but a little out of the way, so we got Ubers back and forth.
On our last day, we fancied a bit of beach time so spent the afternoon at the private V Lounge Beach in Ostia near the airport before our evening flight back home. After checking in at Fiumicino, we were looking for a place to eat and were thrilled to discover Attimi by Heinz Beck, which was certainly the best airport meal I've ever had - why don't all airports have express menus from Michelin-starred chefs? - and a fantastic way to finish a bellissimo weekend.
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