Mother and Son - Roadshow (Rome)

Roma

I believe the power of a full night sleep can settle wars, or at very least ease tensions. The first day of travel after a full night sleep is a wonderful thing. We hit Rome and focused on getting things right for our first full day overseas.

We stayed in Trastevere and if anyone is planning to visit Rome anytime soon, this is where you want to stay. Ignore all other advice and stay around here. It is the university district, an up and coming area of Rome, still very close to the city centre but, most importantly not too touristy. There are tourists because well, it’s Rome, however; there are not people dressed as roman soldiers. It is also multicultural; with the universities around the area you’ll notice a great deal of different accents. But this pales compared to the nightlife, after dark this place comes alight cafés and bars absorb the narrow cobbled laneways and throngs of people breath life into these old roman streets.

We are trying to focus this trip on avoiding the tourist trail to which we haven’t completely succeeded. But some things are touristy for a reason the views from The Equestrian monument dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi are amazing to look over Rome and see this sprawling ancient city, from here one can easily imagine how this city breathed, flourished, existed and endured over centuries.  I love this shit.

To further the avoidance of tourists I decided to get up at 6.30am and head to an Irish pub in the middle of Rome. Because this is where I could watch the AFL Grand Final.  The game was pretty forgettable but an Irish pub in the middle of Italy packed with 200 other expats drink and yelling that early in the morning is certainly an experience. Did I mention it was an Irish pub in the middle of Rome! How great was Franklin, dynasty…

“Leaving Rome, life was never good to me, leaving Rome…” not really, but, as we pack up for departure on some classic Italian transport, story to come. We remember Rome as a much more enjoyable than last time. We tried to stay off the beaten track more than last time and remembering the proper long lunch with had with friends. Multiple courses and bottles of wine made for a great afternoon in the capital. But now we must leave. Harder said than done…

Our first real disaster. We really did experience a classic Italian train experience; get dropped off at the wrong station and after walking with all our luggage to the corrected departure ‘lounge’ we were suitably informed of the train cancellation. We were then offered three options, the Rome underground, a regional train… ‘oh sorry that has left’ or fed for ourselves with a cab. The private train company was only going to pay for the underground option. We took the cab option. In the end we got the replacement train fine and the taxi wasn’t too expensive but the lack of forethought from the operating line was classic Italian transport.

TL:DR don’t catch Italo trains.

Onward to Firenze!

Mother and Son - Roadshow (The first 24hrs)

Europe, the first 48.

We have now been in Italy for 24 hours; it was not a momentous 24 hours. A enormously tiring one none the less. Which could have been due to the 35 hours of travel with 3 hours sleep or the stress of international travel or even the continual fight with Telstra. Whatever the cause I sleep a full 10 hours last night and I am ready to take on the first proper day of travel, here in Rome.

Positives; our accommodation here in Rome is amasing, nice flat bed, clean bathroom with good shower, these were the highlights I focused on yesterday morning when we first arrived because these were the things most lacking after 35 of travel, did I mention the flatness and size of the bed?

This morning I also noticed the beautiful classic Italian green window shutters, stunning terrace including our first Italian breakfast all nestled in the cool Trastevere area. With multiple universities around the area this suburb of Rome is full of students from all over the world, little bars and generally cool vibe. This is not ruins Rome, but almost little village Rome. Tiny streets barely wide enough for a car weave their way between classic Italian apartments. We spent most of yesterday walking around getting to know the area. Whilst we messed up our first meal, eating in a tourist focused restaurant we have since made up for it.

Dinner that night we found a spot with a mixture of tourists and students, friendly staff and more importantly good Italian food. Simple flavours focusing on fresh ingredients and importantly olive oil. Now we are getting somewhere. After at times a testy but mostly just exhausting 48hours we head home and hope for a full nights rest.