We went on our honeymoon the Tuesday after our wedding. I had a bunch of cheques to pay into the bank in the morning, some in Mr. Riley's name, some in my maiden name, some in my new name, but all into one account. Fortunately it was easier than I expected. I guess people get married quite regularly.
We set off for Manchester airport and probably left it a bit too late. I was entirely unworried until we got to Glossop, and then the queue of traffic did make me have a flicker of doubt about whether we would get to the airport on time. Fortunately, that fear was unfounded and we arrived with plenty of time.
Neither Mr. Riley nor I are happy flyers. He gets really worried from a couple of hours before and then all during take-off. I don't worry about it at all until the plane starts moving, and then I'm pretty terrified until we land again. However, this flight was a particularly smooth one. Mr. Riley pointed out the White Cliffs of Dover, and then we were presented with a bottle of champagne, which had been bought for us as a wedding gift. This meant that we were sipping champagne as we flew over Paris... pretty romantic if you ask me!
We arrived in Rome on time, and organised transport to our hotel, the Hotel Artemide on Via Nazionale. It was a scary-arsed drive into the city, with the driver driving with his knees, whilst sending text messages, on the motorway. We got there incident-free however and checked in to our fancy hotel. I must have mentioned whilst booking that we were there on our honeymoon, as they had upgraded us to a 'superior' room and we had a complimentary bottle of wine with a little note from the hotel staff, and best of all the mini-bar was free for the duration of our stay!
We decided to just eat in the hotel's roof top restaurant that evening. I had MASSIVE prawns and Mr. Riley had steak. We were given a free glass of prosecco each and finished with an ice cream to share. We got back to the hotel room, put Avenger's on the TV and both fell asleep in about 6 seconds flat.
More photos and stuff after the jump...
The next morning we got up for the buffet breakfast and Mr. Riley was itching to get going. We jumped on a bus to get to the Vatican City, realised we should have got tickets somewhere else, so jumped back off again after two stops. Nothing like an illegal bus journey to start the day! Instead we got a taxi and decided to work out how public transport worked later. We didn't actually go into the Vatican as we thought we'd save that for another day, but we used this as the starting point for the Lonely Planet's 'Roman Holiday' walking tour. I bloody love that film, so was excited about seeing all the sights from it, and actually what that route did for us was give us our bearings in Rome. We had been told about how expensive the cafes could be, especially if you sit outside. This we discovered was not a joke or an over-exaggeration when we stopped outside the Pantheon, had a coffee and a coke each and were charged 24 Euros for the privilege! Rome is a truly beautiful city, and you go round every corner and there's something amazing to look at. We took shit loads of photos on that first day, both got a little bit sunburnt and Mr. Riley bought a hat. Which, for anyone who knows him, is a funny thing.
The next morning, after breakfast, we changed hotels. Not because we didn't like the first one, but because we couldn't afford to stay there longer than two nights! We walked to our new hotel, the Auditorium Di Mecenate on Via Dello Statuto, and we were greeted by a man that can only be described as one of the Dolmio puppets. We quickly named him Captain Italia, as he couldn't have been more stereotypically Italian if he tried. Whilst checking us in he gave us a list of recommended restaurants, and he actually said that we could get pasta "like-a ma mama used to make-a". I fell just a little bit in love with him at that point.
We decided to go to the Colloseum that day and stopped for lunch at one of the recommended restaurants, the Trattoria "La Vecchia Roma" on Via Leonina. We both had pasta, and it was our first taste of really good Italian cooking, and I had my first Italian espresso. We paid for a guided tour when we got to the Colloseum. It was pretty interesting, but difficult to hear through the stupid little headsets that you get given. We got an ice cream on the way back, before having a quick change of clothes and going for food. The restaurant that Captain Italia had recommended was shut unfortunately, but we found another one close by that was reasonable, but not great. For a wedding present, we had tickets to go and see a classical concert at the Teatro di Marcello that evening. We weren't entirely sure what to expect, but it ended up being quite beautiful and rather romantic. It was a pianist playing Beethoven's Sonata Op. 111, and the setting alongside the music and the lovely Roman evening was just perfect.
The next morning, Captain Italia sorted us out some tickets for the Vatican Museum. We got the Metro rather than a taxi... it was really easy and much cheaper. When we got there, we avoided all the tour guide sellers who tell you that you can skip the queue with them and, actually, there was no queue anyway. We quite enjoyed looking round the different rooms and galleries, enjoying the ceilings and the incredibly long corridors. They ask that you respect the Sistine Chapel and don't speak and don't take photos, and just because neither Mr. Riley nor I are religious doesn't mean we don't respect other people's requests, unlike most of the visitors there, who were trying to take photos of the ceiling without being noticed.
It was raining a little when we left the museums, and we decided to walk to another recommended restaurant which Captain Italia had told us was the best pizzeria in Roma, the Pizzeria La Montecarlo on Vicolo Savelli. On the way there we were crossing over one of the bridges when the heavens opened and we got drenched within seconds. A little old Italian lady actually shouted "Mama Mia" before running for cover. Rome really is full of stereotypes.
That night we went to Ristorante "Da Francesco" in the Piazza del Fico, which had a lovely, bustling atmosphere and served amazing food like a bloody steak the size of Mr Riley's head, but brought out all the courses at the same time! We stopped for cocktails in the Piazza Navona on the way home, then got a taxi back to the hotel, nearly knocking a guy off his moped on the journey.
After doing so much on previous days, we decided to have a lazy day on the Saturday, so we both read a bit, went out and grabbed a bite of lunch in a small cafe, bought some souvenirs, went for a coffee across the road from the hotel. In the evening, our last in Rome, we went for a drink (at an Irish bar) and then headed to another of Captain Italia's recommended restaurants, Trattoria "Silvio alla Suburra". This was, despite somewhat slow service, the best meal we had in Rome, and the thing I remember most was the Antipasti Rustico we had to start... a plate with onion, yellow pepper, green chilli, chicory, tomato, courgette, aubergine, mushroom and PICKLED ONIONS, all grilled. Frickin' deeeee-licious!
The next day Captain Italia told us we could check out as late as we wanted and recommended that we head out to the big flea market in Rome, which was a bustle of noise and people and stalls where you could buy just about anything you wanted. If we could have, we would have bought loads of stuff. However, restraint had to be practised so we just enjoyed having a pootle around instead. When we got back, we walked to the train station and got on our first class train to Florence.
Rome Recommendations
Restaurants
- Trattoria "Silvio alla Suburra" - Via Urbana no 67/69
- Trattoria "La Vecchia Roma" - Via Leonina no 10
- Pizzeria La Montecarlo - Vicolo Savelli no 13
- Ristorante "Da Francesco" - Piazza del Pasquino
Hotel
- Auditorium Di Mecenate, Via Dello Statuto 44, Stazione Termini
Sights
- Rome*
* OK, I know that's a bit general, but honestly you can't walk down a street without seeing something beautiful, so just wander around. Of course there's the Colloseum, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Vatican City etc etc etc, and it's all worth a visit. We loved it.
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