Rome - Day 1 ⛲️

This blog is brought to you by Ellie.

We’re back at it again, folks! When we last left you, we had been galavanting all over Geneva for my birthday, getting all Christmassy. Our first holiday of 2026 is going to be a short, but much needed, break. Amid wedding planning and sometimes stressful jobs, it’s nice to get back to normal. Rome is the city of choice this time and I have never been to Italy before! Barry has been to Milan and did not get on so well with Italian public transport systems, so he’s excited but sceptical.

The alarm sounded at 03:50 this morning. Rain and wind battering the windows, we quietly readied ourselves for the drive to Stansted while saying goodbye to Charlie and Converse, who will be diligently cared for by Barry’s dad while we are away. In the car, I serenaded Barry with a couple of Italian bangers that I could think of (not many, it turns out), which I believe he very much enjoyed. It wasn’t long before I fell asleep, time travelling to the airport and leaving my love in peace for the remainder of the journey.

It was a nice speedy walk through the new security setup, where I had to have my apparently suspicious shoes scanned. The essential spray of perfume in the duty free section was also slightly treacherous, as the perfume keeper decided I was the one to watch. Not sure what vibes I’m giving off today but they are apparently that of a youth in a hoodie?

We got some breakfast treats from Pret and found a quiet spot to eat. Barry began to fall asleep on my shoulder when I gasped, realising we had left an essential member of our party at home. Our beloved Henning had been Home Alone’d!

A thought spared for our lost traveller, our gate was called and we were soon winging our way to the alternative city of love.

Barry once again had peace from me as we were separated by two rows and an aisle. He’d been stuck with a wretched middle seat but he managed a bit of sleep. I seemed to time travel once again in my aisle seat. Two hours went by without issue and we landed in Rome Ciampino airport half an hour ahead of schedule, stepping into a glorious 18 degree, sunny day. We nearly fell to our knees in relief. Two months of almost solid rain has done a number on us!

From this smaller airport outside the city, Barry had worked out that the best way to get to Rome was to use the small bus service (Airlink) to the local train station and get the train the rest of the way. He’d booked these a few days prior and it was foolproof. The train into Rome was, of course, packed, so we stood for the ten minute journey.

The train station in Rome is basically a ginormous shopping mall and it took us a couple of tries to get out in the right direction, but once we did, our hotel wasn’t far away. A few streets north we found Hotel Varese, where the lovely lady at the desk told us our room was ready an hour early! Absolute result as we both needed to wash off the morning’s travel.

I had lofty ideas of sitting outside a café for lunch, people watching, but by the time we’d showered and changed, it was 2pm and we just needed something to keep us going for the afternoon. We found a small supermarket outside the train station that had a good selection of freshly prepared pastries and sandwiches, which we enjoyed on our short trip down into the depths of the station to the Metro.

A 72-hour travel ticket cost us 22€ each and was easy peasy to buy. We travelled three stations on a very busy but clean train to Spagna (very quick train to end up in a whole new country in five minutes) for the first stop of our sightseeing adventure;

The Spanish Steps are Rome’s most glamorous staircase which seems to just exist to be dramatic. Spilling down from the elegant Trinità dei Monti down to the Piazza di Spagna, they’ve hosted poets, painters, and modern day art of all kinds. Come spring, azaleas tumble over the steps, but today it was filled with tourists and locals soaking up the sun’s healing rays.

From here we walked for a short while through the busy streets and quickly came upon the Trevi Fountain. It was at this point I really wondered if Barry had flown me to the Disney version of Rome. It all just looks so perfect and… crowded! It’s also very surreal to turn a non-descript corner to find one of the most iconic landmarks in history, but that’s going to be happening this whole trip so I need to sort myself out.

You now have to queue up in order to throw a coin into the fountain, which we didn’t particularly feel the need to do (insert cheesy line about already having everything we wished for blah blah blah). We settled for viewing from the upper level and got some little photos together. I realised I never knew why the fountain exists, so here is a little history;

The Trevi Fountain marks the end of the ancient Aqua Virgo, an aqueduct completed in 19 BC under Augustus, which still supplies the fountain today. The Baroque spectacle you see now was designed in the 18th century by Nicola Salvi and completed in 1762 by Giuseppe Pannini.

In the middle, Oceanus rides a shell-shaped chariot pulled by two sea horses, one calm and one unruly, a metaphor for the moods of the sea.

Millions of euros are fished out of it each year for charity!

The next supposedly real sight to see was the Pantheon, another short wander through some pretty cobbled streets. The Pantheon actually almost looks out of place, it’s so old. We had a wait of “15 minutes” while the crowds died down inside, but was more like 25. It costs €5 cash each to get in if you haven’t pre-booked. The cost of the ticket doesn’t change if you pre-book, it just makes the visit slightly more predictable. You have to be dressed “modestly” to go in. No baseball caps, but I saw this specifically only enforced for men today, so ladies, wear as many baseball caps as you wish, the gods love it.

The original version was built in 27BC but due to fires, was rebuilt in 118-127AD. “Pan” means “all” and “Theon” means “Gods”. The oculus in the centre of the enormous dome reduces its weight and has helped it to survive for so long. Symbolically, the open circle connects the interior to the sky. In a temple originally dedicated to multiple gods, the view upward may have reinforced the relationship between the gods and the space below. Today it connected me to a passing aeroplane which I was too slow to photograph… sorry.

The final sightseeing stop today was Piazza Navona, very pretty in the setting sun and lined with restaurants and bars. We decided here would be the perfect  spot to have an overpriced spritz close to a heater as the heat of the sun had also started to die down. I chose a limoncello spritz and Barry had a classic Aperol. Both were totally delicious and by the time I’d finished mine I was blind tipsy. I don’t drink often.

I floated back, corralled by my love, past the Pantheon and the Spanish Steps to the Metro, where a nice man let me sit next to his wife while I smiled vacantly. Barry was likely grateful not to be seen with me at this stage.

We had a short recharge back at the hotel where I sobered up and charged back out to find our evening sustenance. I’d chosen a restaurant close to the hotel that had excellent reviews. It was crowded and buzzing when we arrived and we had to awkwardly wait in the entrance for a while before being seated. We enjoyed listening to all the characters seated around us and chatting about our plans for the days to come. I had a classic carbonara and Barry chose a buffalo mozzarella pizza. Both delicious although I was soon defeated and poor Barry had to help me. This didn’t stop me from ordering a tiramisu to takeaway! The lady serving us understood me and offered us some limoncellos for the road, which we enthusiastically accepted as I hadn’t had limoncello for many moons…. She wasn’t to know I was very merry only a couple of hours before.

So, as I finish off my tiramisu with no regrets, that’s day one of Rome done! Lots more exciting happenings to come tomorrow, and told by your favourite blogger (yes, I know who you’re all here for)!

CAIO!