This list is in no particular order: I love Italy. I love Italians. I love pizza. I love the Vatican. I love gelato. I love the Trevi Fountain. I love floundering my way through the Italian language, only to realize that seemingly everyone in Italy speaks English… Have I mentioned I love Italy?
While I am very proud to be an American, and love our culture here, I would relish in any opportunity to spend copious amounts of time in Italy. Here in DC, I have several friends from the “old country.” (note: despite my white bread American appearance, I was raised with a lot of my grandmother’s Italian culture). This past summer was my third trip to Italy, and I absolutely loved it. Our entire trip encompassed three countries: Ireland, Austria, and Italy. Flying in and out of Ireland from the U.S. makes for an easier transition in to European time (and back to the U.S.), and breaks up the long flight a bit. Plus, it’s a lot cheaper to fly in to Dublin and then take Ryan Air, Aer Lingus, or Vueling to other European cities. When all was said and done, Joanna and I spent a total of $1100 for our entire trip going from Philly to Dublin; Dublin to Vienna; Vienna to Rome; Rome to Dublin; and Dublin to Philly, AND this was at the height of tourist season.. Not bad!
The third leg of our long trip was Rome.. I also spent a day up in the Marche region, which I’ll write about next week.
We stayed at an Air BnB in Rome, which I would not at ALL recommend. It was really dumb of me to not use my many Italian resources to ask where a good neighborhood to stay was, and we ended up waaaay out of the way. Tip: if you’re using Air BnB, ALWAYS ask someone which neighborhood is a safe/good place to stay. If you don’t know someone from the country/area, ask me. At the risk of sounding completely narcissistic, I know people from ALL over. As far as Rome goes, it sometimes feels like I have more friends who haven’t lived in Rome than those who have.
Joanna and I were completely on the same page when it came to budget, which is one of many reasons we make excellent travel buddies (more on this with another post). It is quite literally impossible to get a bad meal in Italy, and I love that food is so inexpensive. For lunch, we just stopped at local pizzerias, which cost no more than €2. There are many different varieties of pizza around Italy, but the Roman style pizza is square with a crispy crust. You pay for it by weight, so they’ll cut a piece to your preference. We only did one dinner out the entire time we were there. The meal was great–it was by Piazza Navona– but honestly.. the pizza was where it was AT. We also ate a copious amount of gelato at Old Bridge, which is seriously the best gelato in the universe. There were some days that we went to Old Bridge twice, replacing dinner (favorite: strawberry, banana, and “bosco fruit”).. Because, when in Rome…
We went to a Wednesday Papal Audience, which did not require tickets. There are points in time that do require tickets, so check the Vatican website to make sure. Even when tickets are required, they’re free. We were SO tired when we got there… I’m pretty sure we woke up at like, 4 AM, so a nap was definitely in order when we got back. I had been to a papal audience with Pope Benedict back when I was studying abroad, and I recall it being quite long. One of the many reasons I love Pope Francis is that he is concise… And he only speaks Spanish and Italian :). For Pope Benedict, we heard the same address in several languages (I don’t recall the exact number, but it was at least five or six), but for Francis, we only heard it twice! Yay! Another note for the Papal Audience: If you want to get something blessed, buy it ahead of time. Soprani, which is not far from the Vatican, has gorgeous rosaries for almost nothing. Street vendors will sell those tacky rose-scented rosaries outside the audience when you’re in line, but there are much better ones for much cheaper at Soprani. One thing I’ve bought a lot of are Holy Family mini icons at Soprani. They make good wedding gifts :).
I can’t wait to get back to Italy.. Have I mentioned I love it? I looooove it. Oh, one last thing. The churches in Italy require that shoulders be covered, and that shorts and skirts be of a modest length, so always keep a scarf in your purse… I’m really going to try to get back to Italia some time this year. Being a Catholic, I love that the Vatican is home in so many ways. Keeping that in mind makes for a much more profound experience! Enjoy the photos below 🙂
