With dancing butterflies in my belly the day had finally come for our adventure to begin. First stop Rome. After meeting up with Jen, my trusty travel companion and photographer, we were ready to board our direct Air Canada Vacations flight from Toronto to Rome. After a comfy 8hr flight complete with free dinner, wine and movies for everyone in economy class we arrived in sunny Rome rested and ready to explore.
Rome’s main airport is also known as Fiumicino, and offers easy access to the city center aboard the Leonardo Express train, so after grabbing our bags we followed the train signs and made our way to the main platform. Conveniently our First Class Eurail Global Passes are accepted on this airport transfer so we simply validated our passes, wrote in our travel date, hopped on board and in about 30 minutes we arrived at Roma Termini, the city’s central train station.
We walked to our nearby hotel and were happy to have chosen one close to the station; I believe we phrased it as enough moving objects for one day! After dropping off our luggage, we grabbed a city map and set out for an afternoon walking tour of Rome. Now, after browsing different guide books on Rome, we were honestly a bit overwhelmed and not sure how to tackle a city with so many huge attractions, in a day and a half no less! The Colosseum, Vatican, Sistine Chapel, St Peter’s Basilica, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps and a whole host of other head-turning buildings, ruins and piazzas, where to begin?!
So we simply set out to see what we could and soon discovered that Rome is a gorgeous walking city where most main attractions are quite central. With our sights set on the Trevi Fountain, and a few wrong turns later, we also came upon Piazza Venezia, the Spanish Steps and views of the Colosseum and ruins in the distance. First impression…every corner we turn we’re in awe and we’re falling in love with Roma!