Epic Honeymoon - Day 14 - Rome

Proverbially, all the roads will lead you here; it was the centre of the Roman Empire in the early days, and a powerhouse example of rich versus poor. The ritualistic executions by wild animals did not last, but thankfully, some of the amazing architecture has. Welcome, one and all, to the majesty of Rome.

Italo got us from Florence to Rome in good time.

We boarded our train from Florence station around 10:30am and settled in for a very pleasant ride. This time travelling with Italo rather than Trenitalia (but again, booked with RailPlus), we zipped along at 250km/h down the middle of Italy. I was pleasantly surprised that a free drink and snack were part of the ticket, so this was a nice treat. The ride itself was uneventful; I was busy catching up on these blog posts, and Avy, her sleep.

Not a fancy snack, but it was free!

We accidently got off the train one stop too early: instead of Roma Termini, we disembarked at Roma Tirbutina. My bad... I heard “Roma” in the announcement and assumed the rest. In any case, the metro connects Tirbutina to Termini, and the tickets are only €1.45 for 100 minutes, so it wasn’t a major issue.

It was amazing how many people we saw having trouble working the metro machines. They were so simple...

Arriving to our next AirBnB, we checked in with the host, Gloria, who was really great! She doesn’t speak any English, but nothing much was lost in translation. The room was really nice; I’d purposely booked the one with the private bathroom just so we could have our own space. The Wi-Fi connection was a bit temperamental throughout our stay, but otherwise, it’s a great place to base yourself when visiting Rome.

Our AirBnB in Rome.

Complete with private bathroom.

In the late afternoon, we walked to Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore, which was only 15 minutes from our accommodation. Legend has it that the Basilica was built on this location after snow fell here during the summer, following a childless couple’s prayer to Mary, asking how they should donate their possessions in her honour.

Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore.

The beautiful interior of the Basilica.

Quite worth of a photo or three.

It’s a fabulous building and probably one of the most beautiful ones we visited during our travels.

After the Basilica, we continued our general wander around the Roma Termini area, passing through the Piazza della Repubblica and down Via Nazionale. Our hunger had kicked in and we found ourselves enticed by the set menus offered at a basement restaurant called Zeus.

A delicious dinner at Zeus.

For €20, we each got a 3 course meal, capped off with cake and an espresso. That had me feeling quite full! Though a bit more expensive than others we passed later, the quality, I thought, was pretty good.

The Basilica from the back, on our walk back home.

Forge your gladitorial destiny on Day 15!