It’s been a few days since I’ve been back from Italy aka Eataly. Talk about a trip of a lifetime! We traveled for almost a month in the country where people flock to for amazing architecture, history, food, wine and endless scenery.
My husband and I lived out of a carry-on to make traveling easier while going from one city to the next. We started off our trip in Roma and stayed at a charming luxury apartment from Romeloft.com (Post coming soon on the loft) It was a 3 story loft, which included a two-tier private terrace in the St. Peter’s area. (Hip area and walking distance to all the attractions) The views were stunning! Sometimes it’s nice to stay at an apartment rather than a hotel. You get a different vibe of a city and it becomes more real. You get to live like a local or at least pretend to.
The weather was lovely and hot in the high 80’s. One of my favorite things about Roma was that there were beautifully decorated water fountains everywhere so you could fill up your water bottles. Fresh, ice cold water. It was so refreshing and perfect for our average 7-mile walks a day in a city that was once the most powerful empire of the world.
During our 3-day stay, we took a few semi-private tours (less than 20 ppl) from City Wonders Tours to learn more about The Colosseum, Vatican, St. Peter’s, Pantheon and the Sistine Chapels. We learned so much from our tour guide that a history book couldn’t come close to. It also helped that our tour guide had a PH degree in Roman Archeology. It truly is a must do if you go!
For the food, it was such a hit or miss in Roma. The restaurants near the tourist attractions were the worst and of course the most expensive. Our favorite eateries were in Trastevere. A pure gem of a place where the true locals go to get the best of Roma. We ate at a place called Da Enzo and it was one of our top 5 meals throughout our entire trip and the best restaurant in Roma. At first, it was hard to get used to their late dining hours. Most places don’t open till 7:30 p.m. where at home, we would have dinner by 6.
Gelaterias were on every corner and always packed after dinner. I have to admit, it’s pretty damn yummy and Italians know a thing or two about food. I learned that real gelato is always served on a spatula, served in sizes S, M, L or XL and natural gelato always has a neutral khaki color. We went to the most famous one in Trastevere, Giolitti Gelateria. Wowza! I got hazelnut gelato almost every day.
Now that we are back, we haven’t had great cappuccinos unlike the real deal we had in Italy. I was never into cappuccinos until this trip. If only I could just have a cup from Sant’ Eustachio Il Caffe right now while blogging about it. One of the best cafés in Italy. I was surprised that some places will charge you 1-2 Euros more just for sitting outside. One beauty is that we never had to worry about how much to tip, because they don’t tip at restaurants in Italy.
You could say after 3 days of intense walking from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. our legs were getting toned, our feet were in major need of a pumice stone and we had only just begun our trip…
To be continued… Ciao! Ciao!
Thank you to Rome Loft and City Wonders Tours for hosting us in your beautiful city!
